Angel City FC celebrates Pride at fanfest

LOS ANGELES - Angel City FC hosted its Pride Night Sunday, celebrating both Pride and its fans before and during their match against the Houston Dash

JR Levert was one of the many celebrating Pride outside BMO Stadium Sunday, with a sign saying "Love is love!" For Levert, "Look, love is love, especially now we have so many different things that we should be celebrating in the world. Love is one of them."

Celebrating love and pride were what this event was all about. It’s one of five fan-fests the football club sponsors a year. Julie Uhrman is the co-founder and President of Angel City Football.

"We live our values," she said. "We built Angel City with the community. We had our community before we had a team, before we had a player, before we had a coach."

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To Daniel Ball, the team’s goalkeeping coach, the message Sunday could not be simpler — "You’re welcome here no matter what you’re about," Ball said.

Fans like Jill Sanders "think it’s great that everybody is celebrating Pride. I think Pride comes in all forms and shapes and sizes."

Kayden Pritchett is 27. They said, "I’m non-binary trans and I feel like I’ve run into a lot of speed bumps."

Kayden Pritchett first realized they was different when they was a teenager playing soccer, and feels events like Sunday's are safe spaces, welcomed because they've had difficult times.

"I can see all these people around supporting me, and I’m not going through those difficulties by myself," Kayden Pritchett said.

Her mom, Mona Pritchett wore a shirt reading,"trans rights are human rights."

"I live down in Huntington Beach, so there’s a political climate where people are saying that my child doesn’t belong, and shouldn’t be here on this planet," Mona Pritchett said.

Kayden Pritchett said they're "so lucky to have someone like my mom that’s around to support me, because without that support the hurdles that I face every day."

And just like her child, Mona Pritchett said she faces similar hurdles against those who criticize Kayde.

"I see what their ideology and ideas do and how it really diminishes my kid's spirit, and I’m not having it."