Wedding bells have sounded for Golden State Warriors President Rick Welts, who married his longtime boyfriend Todd Gage this weekend.
The pair have been together nine years and tied the knot at San Francisco city hall. Welts announced the ceremony on Twitter. Mayor London Breed performed the ceremony herself.
“At 11am today in the Mayor’s office at SF City Hall,” Welts tweeted, “Mayor @LondonBreed married Rick Welts and Todd Gage. It was a good day, nine years in the making!”
At 11am today in the Mayor’s office at SF City Hall, Mayor @LondonBreed married Rick Welts and Todd Gage. It was a good day, nine years in the making! pic.twitter.com/NiiVN255eG
— Rick Welts (@RickWelts) January 11, 2020
Welts came out in 2011, making him one of the earliest team presidents to come out of the closet. Under his tenure, the Warriors have appeared in five straight (pardon the expression) NBA Finals, and won three championships–quite an achievement.
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Since his coming out, Welts has spoken out about the pain of having to hide his personal life from view. His relationship of almost 20 years ended in 1994 when his partner died of AIDS. Another, which lasted from 1995 to 2009, ended in large part to Welts’ staying in the closet. For those reasons, at least in part, Welts also joined the advisory board of You Can Play, an activist organization dedicated to fighting homophobia in sports.
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sanfranca1
Great!
JAWIWA
Actually, he married his fiancé, not his boyfriend. Hmmph!
dhmonarch89
no players there?
Michael1500
I grew up in a small VERY redneck town, and it was essential for my survival to be closeted. It was a struggle, but I played all the sports and acted macho thru high school and college, married, had children, and came out in my mid-50’s. And I know there are thousands of gays who have been and ARE in my situation. I’ve always said that there are more gay people than estimated. (It’s definitely more than 1 in 10.) If ALL gays, out and closeted alike, suddenly “turned blue” or were otherwise identified whether they wanted it or not, the world (including us) would be SHOCKED at how many of us there really is.