Fresh off an NBA title win, and subsequent victory parade through the streets of Oakland, Golden State Warriors president and COO Rick Welts will be waving to an adoring crowd once again during San Francisco’s Pride Parade.
On the celebration’s 45th anniversary, San Francisco Pride chose Welts to be the Celebrity Grand Marshal.
“SF Pride is excited to bestow this honor on America’s first prominent, openly-gay sports executive,” organizers said on its website.
Welts came out in 2011, two years before he came to the Bay Area to become president of the Warriors. In an interview earlier this month with NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai, he described what it was like to come out.
“I can tell you, at a personal level, it’s been spectacular. I’ve really been able to communicate to literally thousands of people,” Welts said.
As for being selected as celebrity grand marshal, he said it was a “personal honor.”
“It’s a reflection of how far we’ve come in professional sports.,” Welts said. “We still have work to do, but I’m pleased, and humbled, by this opportunity to shine light on the contributions the LGBT community makes to sports, every day, all over the world.”
Sports
The Pride Parade and Celebration is this Saturday and Sunday in downtown San Francisco.
