Livestream with Special Guest and Former NBA Player, Jason Collins

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Livestream with Special Guest Jason Collins
Wednesday, March 30 at 10 am

LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports is in its infancy as players from all sports come out across the globe. The reality with LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports is that there is a long way to go to ensure acceptance and belonging, whether in the arena, stadium, field and more.  Players like Jason Collins have paved the way for LGBTQ+ athletes to come out today.  Hear his courageous story in this edition of ChamberTalk.

As part of the Pride Night celebration with the Houston Rockets, the Chamber is hosting a conversation with Special Guest Jason Collins. Collins, a former NBA professional basketball player, joins the ChamberTalk conversation to talk about inclusion in sports and his journey of coming out as a player.  Collins came out after the 2012-2013 NBA season and became the second openly gay athlete to play in any of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.

You can catch the interview with Jason on Chamber social media channels at:

About Jason Collins (he|him)

Collins attended Stanford University, where he was an All-American in the 2000-2001 season.  He was also named to the All Pac-10 First Team and awarded the NABC Pete Newell “Big Man of the Year” Award. He finished his college career ranked first in Stanford history for field goal percentage and third in blocked shots. Upon graduating with a B.A. from Stanford, Collins was selected in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft with the 18th overall pick. Collins has played for six NBA franchises including New Jersey, Memphis, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston, Washington, and the Brooklyn Nets (formerly the New Jersey Nets). Doc Rivers, who coached Collins during his time with the Boston Celtics, said of Collins: “He’s the best. He literally is one of the best guys I’ve ever had in the locker room, player or coach.” In his 13 years in the league, Collins’ teams earned 10 trips to the playoffs including 2 NBA Finals appearances.

After the 2012-13 NBA season concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay in a cover story for Sports Illustrated, becoming the first male active player in any of the four major American professional sports to announce that he is gay. President Obama expressed his gratitude to Collins for his courageous announcement and said he “couldn’t be prouder” of Collins, recognizing this as a point of progress for the LGBT community, and one more step in  America’s goal to treat everyone fairly and with respect. Collins has traveled the country with the mission of empowering people to live their lives as their true selves, and has become an active member of numerous charities, foundations and organizations. In 2013, GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, honored Collins with the Courage Award at the GLSEN Respect Awards. In 2014, Logo TV honored Collins with its inaugural Trailblazer Award. Also in 2014, the Matthew Shepard Foundation honored Collins with its Making a Difference Award at its annual Honors Gala. In April 2014, Collins was featured on the cover of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”  In January of 2015, the National Civil Rights Museum honored Collins with a Sports Legacy Award. From 2014 to 2017 Collins served on the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, which works to motivate Americans to adopt a healthy lifestyle via physical activity and nutrition. Since retiring from playing in 2015, Collins has become a NBA Cares Ambassador — spreading goodwill on behalf of the NBA with its players, community, and corporate partners. Collins resides in Los Angeles, California.

Other Guests

Join the conversation as Sarah Pepper (she|her) and Jessie Watt (she|her), Hosts of The Morning Mix radio show on KHMX - Mix 96.5, interview Jason Collins to talk about his personal journey, LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports and more.

Sarah Pepper began her radio career in 2003, in Indiana. In July of 2008, she followed her co-host Brad Booker to Houston, to take over mornings on the newly launched HOT 95.7, where she had an eight year run. In December of 2016, KKHH relaunched at The Spot while Sarah was retained under contract by CBS Radio — later resurfacing on KHMX – Mix 96.5 as the host of The Morning Show. Sarah has won numerous broadcasting awards, including a record breaking 9 consecutive OutSmart Magazine Radio Personality of the Year Awards. In 2015, she was awarded the Media Alliance of Houston Award and took home that honor again in 2018. She is one of a handful of female professional sports in-stadium announcers for the USWNT and the Houston Dash (NWSL). Sarah has covered the Grammys, Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Ike, and other major events. She gave birth to her daughter, Parker, in 2019.		Jessie Watt (she/her) was born and raised in Detroit, MI and went to college to pursue her dreams of working in the media. She graduated from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor's Degree in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts with a double minor in Communication and Leadership. After graduating, Jessie started working at 99.5 WYCD, Detroit's new country music station. After starting as a promotions coordinator, Tim Roberts took Jessie under his wing to start coaching her for major market radio. Soon, Jessie became the full time producer for the WYCD morning show: Chuck, Rachael, and Grunwald in the morning. She's served on many radio broadcast panels through CMU, participated as a contestant in Faith in Action's "Dancing With the Stars" fundraiser, hosted some incredible country concerts, and has volunteered her time throughout the Detroit community. In 2020, Jessie moved to Houston to co-host the morning show with Sarah Pepper on Mix 96.5 and has loved every second of this city. She hopes to become a more integral part of the Houston community as she looks forward to helping wake Houston up with a smile every day.

Clay Allen (he|him), General Counsel, with the Houston Rockets will share more about Pride Night and the teams commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.

Clay Allen is General Counsel for the Houston Rockets and Toyota Center. Clay began his career with the Rockets as a part-time Marketing Associate in 2001, working his way up within the organization before leaving the Rockets to attend law school. Clay returned to the Rockets as Associate General Counsel in 2013 and was promoted to General Counsel in 2021, becoming one of the few LGBTQ executives in professional sports. As General Counsel, Clay is responsible for a wide range of legal and policy matters for both the Houston Rockets and Toyota Center, including areas relating to sponsorship agreements, arena use agreements, intellectual property matters, human resources matters, risk management, and compliance with NBA rules.

Chamber Co-Founder, President & CEO, Tammi Wallace (she|her), will share welcome remarks to kick off the livestream.

Tammi Wallace is a Co-Founder and the President & CEO of the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce.  Her passion for economic inclusion focused on the LGBTQ+ Business Community has been a driving force in the Chamber's growth since the launch of the organization in 2016.

Celebrate Pride Night with the Houston Rockets and Root for our Hometown Team! 

The Chamber is proud to partner with our Gold Level Corporate Partner, Houston Rockets, for Pride Night! The Houston Rockets will play the Sacramento Kings at Toyota Center on Wednesday, March 30 at 7PM.

Use Promo Code: PRIDE

 A ticket to the game plus a Rockets Pride Hat will start at $19. Through this specific link, $5 from each ticket sold will go back to the Chamber.  Thank you Houston Rockets for your support of the Chamber!

Scheduled in-game elements include:

• Concourse Community Activation Featuring the The Banner Project
• First Shot for charity - Josephine "Jo" Jones - HPD LGBTQIA+ Liaison
• National Anthem sung by Christina Wells
• Special Pride Night T-Shirt, created by Chamber Member and LGBTQ+-owned business, OG 713, will be available for purchase in the Pride Shop. A portion of the proceeds will benefit a local LGBTQ+ charity.

The Banner Project, an exhibition of Houston LGBT History, will be on display on the Concourse. The newest banner addition honors, Houston Splash, initially known as Black Gay & Lesbian Splash Day.