Pride Night Presented by Blue Shield of California

The Kings kicked off the night with a performance of the National Anthem sung by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and the honoring of LGBTQ+ Hero of the Game, Captain Syleida Ellis, United States Marine Corps. Following the Anthem, Brynne Van Putten, the President of the Los Angeles Blades Hockey Club, performed the ceremonial puck drop at center ice. The LA Blades are the first openly Gay and Lesbian ice hockey team in the US. Their mission is to provide a safe and welcoming environment for LGBT and straight people to play the game of hockey and to help build understanding and eliminate homophobia in the hockey community.

The Blades were also highlighted later in the night as a team when the arena wished them luck as they prepared to compete at the Palm Springs International Pride Hockey Tournament, which the Kings were proud to sponsor.

Kings players wore Pride specialty jerseys for arrivals designed by local nonbinary artist Annie Hong aka Hootnannie. The signed jerseys were auctioned by the Kings Care Foundation and raised over $20,000 with proceeds benefitting GLSEN and You Can Play. Corresponding Pride merchandise was also sold in the arena and online at the TeamLA store.

The LA Kings are proud to partner with organizations like GLSEN, You Can Play and LA vs Hate to stand firm against homophobia and hate. Both GLSEN, which works to ensure LGBTQ students have access to a safe school environment, and LA vs Hate, which partners throughout LA county to provide resources to end hate, had concourse booths to educate fans on their missions. The day before the game, You Can Play ran an LGBTQ+ education session for Kings staff and leadership to learn about biases, inclusivity, gender identity and more.

Throughout the arena, the Kings showed their support and allyship for the LGBTQ+ community through rainbow arena lighting and graphics, key personnel throughout the arena sporting Pride merch and accessories, and a fan giveaway of rainbow pom-poms.