Rick Welts, the president of American basketball team the Golden State Warriors, has married his partner Todd Gage in a ceremony in San Francisco City Hall.
Welts announced his marriage, which took place on Friday (January 10) in a tweet at the weekend.
“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!” he wrote. The tweet has since been liked almost 3,000 times.
The couple has been met with a wave of positivity and well-wishes on social media since sharing news of their marriage.
Rick Welts and his husband Todd Gage were greeted with a wave of positivity on social media following their wedding.
“Congratulations! Wishing you and your husband many years of happiness,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Congratulations to the both of you! May you continue down your path together with respect, laughter, loyalty and unconditional love!” another Twitter user added.
Welts came out publicly as gay in 2011. At the time, he was chief executive of basketball team Phoenix Suns.
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!
In an interview with The New York Times in 2011, Welts said he wanted to break down one of the last social barriers in sport.
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
“This is one of the last industries where the subject is off limits. Nobody’s comfortable in engaging in a conversation,” he said.
Welts previously lost his long-term partner to AIDS-related complications in 1994.
When he came out, he revealed that his family knew of his sexuality. He also revealed that he had lost his longterm partner Arnie to AIDS-related complications in 1994.
Before taking on his current role, Welts worked with the NBA for almost two decades. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.
In 2016, the decision by the NBA to move an All Star game from North Carolina because of the anti-LGBT+ HB2 bill was motivated by Welts’ discomfort.
Welts reportedly said at an NBA board meeting at the time that he would not be comfortable attending the game if it were to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina.