4 minute read
San Francisco 49ers Exhibit Pride Year-Round
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
EXHIBIT PRIDE YEAR ROUND
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ERIC CARLYLE, SDLT (HE/HIM/HIS)
Photo credit: 49ers.com
The San Francisco 49ers PRIDE was launched in 2019 as the first-ever fan club started by an NFL franchise to directly engage and support LGBTQIA+ fans and allies. Known as The Faithful, the group is an extension of the organization’s long-standing support of the LGBTQIA+ community, including more than $150,000 donated since 2005 to local and national nonprofits such as GLAAD and the San Francisco LGBTQ+ Center.
So when the San Francisco 49ers launched the first ever genderless retail collection for Pride this year, I was able to talk with Hannah Gordon, the Team’s chief administrative officer and general council about what else the team has in store for Pride this year.
Eric Carlyle: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me, Hannah. Clearly, the 49ers are on the forefront of supporting the LGBTQIA+ community in a number of ways, particularly the transgender community. In your very first Activism in Sports Panel in 2019 you had transgender male boxer Pat Manuel as a panel member and this year you have trans female retired MMA fighter Fallon Fox.
Has the 49ers organization been involved in protesting any of the anti-trans legislation, like the old bathroom bills or the newer bans on transgender girls participating in girls sports that a number of states have already passed or have tried to pass?
Hannah Gordon: We engage in legislation within our footprint only, which in general is local legislation in the Bay area or in California. But we don’t ever engage regardless of the topic in state legislation in other states. Thankfully, we live in a state where this isn’t something that the people are trying to propose. We had a professor from San Jose State University who gave a whole talk around trans-athlete participation in sports and how we as a culture have used stereotypes to ban people from sports in a way that is quite harmful, especially for those who are competing as women.
EC: What other suggestions or requests have you received from your Faithful members that you now have in your pipeline?
HG: A few of the things we’ve done in the past have definitely been influenced by ideas the people have had. When we first participated as a float during Pride, that was something we participated in as a sponsor of Pride but we didn’t have a float so having our fans and some of our team representatives come out and participate in it was really fun. In 2019 we had an away game watch party in the Castro with a Drag Queen halftime show which was a great combination of fun activities. Last year we virtually celebrated “National Coming Out Day” so having those kinds of events were events that our fans had wanted to see from us.
EC: Do you have other 49er initiatives planned for Pride and beyond that haven’t come from the Faithful?
HG: We have three elements of our Pride planned for this 2021 Pride. The first is the first ever genderless retail collection by an NFL team with our crop top as well as our sleeveless tank. The second part is we will be featuring our Pride members and their stories not only in photography but in videography as well. Our third piece, as you mentioned earlier is our annual LGBTQ+ Athletes in Sports Panel featuring Fallon Fox, Sam Rappaport and Chris Gabriel.
EC: What can we do to help you with those?
HG: Great question. I think participation in these activities really demonstrates to the entire NFL League and the entire sports industry that there are fans all over, whether they are LGBTQ+ or allies, that they are expecting organizations and brands to step up in this way; that they aren’t only fans but that they also deserve to be seen, heard and celebrated as fans. That they are also your customer base and you are something that they want as a part of their team.
EC: Do you also take into account the feelings and beliefs of the organization’s staff as well as the coaches and players?
HG: We absolutely do. I think one of the really beautiful things that came out of watching 49ers Pride was the internal conversations we were able to have, the space we were able to create for people to share their own personal stories and for people to be involved in cross functional departments. Not only was it marketing or in fan engagement to be a part of this, we had people in stadium ops or in other departments who, based on their personal experience, we were like “Hey, we want to hear from you, what do you want to see? We want you to be a sounding board.” So we think that was the beautiful part of launching this.
EC: Again, Hannah, thanks for taking the time to share this information with our readers! The 49ers are certainly setting the example for how professional sports teams can engage with their local fans and support what we, at Compete Sports Diversity refer to as our IDEAL Principles of I-Inclusion; D-Diversity; E-Equality/Equity; A-Acceptance; and L-Leadership.
