Monumental Sports & Entertainment Celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride in D.C.

Washington, D.C. - Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), its professional sports teams, foundation and employee resource groups honor and support all members of the LBGTQ+ community. The organization, including the Washington Mystics, Washington Wizards, Capital City Go-Go, Wizards District Gaming, Washington Capitals, Caps Gaming and Unity, the LGBTQ+ focused and employee-led collective, continuously engage in numerous activities to help empower all who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, or asexual in continued allyship.

The Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation (MSEF) will kick off Pride Month with a $10,000 donation to the DC Center for the LGBT Community, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, empowering, celebrating and connecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.

On Monday, June 5, Capital One Arena featured a Pride x MSE graphics takeover on all external boards and banners. Throughout the month, MSE will host Pride graphics in rotation on the external video boards to be viewed by the thousands of people who travel past the arena each day.

In collaboration with the Capital Pride Alliance, MSE will participate in the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 10 alongside Giant, the official Pride Partner for the Mystics, Wizards and Capitals. Monumental Sports representatives accompanied by a branded video truck with follow a 1.5-mile route through the Logan & Dupont Circle neighborhoods in the District. The teams will also host themed activations on June 11 at the DC Pride Festival

The Washington Mystics will host their annual Pride Night on June 16, presented by Giant. The game will feature mini progressive Pride flags courtesy of Giant for all fans, portraits in the Pride photo booth on the concourse, new Mystics Pride merch at the Fanatics Team Store and a spotlight of the Mystics Partners in Pride for corporate partners who have demonstrated a commitment to workplace policies, practices, and benefits for LGBTQ+ employees. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) will be highlighted throughout the evening with a table on the concourse and a halftime ceremony honoring HRC President, Kelley Robinson as a Legacy Game Changer. Fans will view a video presentation about Kelley and her work to advance equality for the LGBTQ+ community ahead of her receiving a personalized Mystics Nike Rebel Edition jersey. The Mystics and MSE Foundation will also present the Human Rights Campaign Foundation with a $10,000 donation check, and MSE Foundation and Giant will also present a $10,000 check to SMYAL (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders).

At the Washington Wizards' Pride Night game on March 28, the team hosted a pregame human rights campaign panel that brought together local leaders to talk about LGBTQ+ equality in the workplace and the importance of the LGBTQ+ community in athletics. Following the panel, attendees enjoyed a reception where they received Wizards and Giant co-branded swag items. During the game, the Wizards honored SMYAL as the beneficiary of the MSE Foundation's 50/50 raffle. The LGBTQ+ youth empowerment nonprofit also received a $5,000 donation and $5,400 in gift cards for free groceries for a year from Giant.

The Washington Capitals hosted Pride Night for the seventh consecutive year on Jan. 17. This year's Pride Night presented by Giant spotlighted LGBTQ+ community members, messages and themes. The Capitals social accounts featured rainbow avatars, and fans were encouraged to post on social media with the #CapsPrideNight hashtag. Also, during the 2023 season, the Capitals and MSEF Pride auction featured autographed player-used sticks wrapped in rainbow-color 'Pride Tape', and raised more than $40,000, including a $5,000 donation from Giant benefitting SMYAL. In addition, MSEF and the Capitals kicked off a new partnership with Unmatched Athlete with a $5,000 donation that will help provide off-ice hockey opportunities to LGBTQ+ youth and allies. Unmatched Athlete is a Maryland-based non-profit that encourages youth who identify as LGBTQ+ and allies to participate in sports and fitness. To date, Capitals Pride auctions have raised more than $167,800 for organizations that support the LGBTQ+ community.

MSE's Unity Employee Resource Group has worked to support an environment where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual staff and allies are engaged, empowered, and optimizing their diversity and individuality. Some of the impactful initiatives of the past year include an LGBTQ+ Inclusion Lunch & Learn in collaboration with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce which provided introductory education to colleagues on inclusive language and concepts; a group outing to see Shangela at Warner Theatre; a clothing drive benefitting the DC Center for the LGBT Community, George Mason University LGBTQ+ Center, and A Wider Circle; and hosting a screening and discussion for Changing the Game, a film about transgender high school athletes who compete at the top of their fields while challenging the boundaries and perceptions of fairness and discrimination.

All fans are encouraged to donate to the Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation year-round to support even more local efforts that benefit the LGBTQ+ community in D.C.