Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving as the eighth Mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented Ward 4 as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female Mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt, and the first woman to be reelected to that position.
The headline grabbing news this week that Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis reached an agreement with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and will keep his hockey and basketball teams in D.C.
rather than move them to Virginia came one week after the Capitals hosted its annual LGBTQ Pride Night Out game at the Capital One Arena.
And the announcement of the decision to keep the two teams in D.C. also came two days before the Wizards were scheduled to host their annual Pride Night Out game at the arena on Friday, March 29. “We’re very excited that we can keep these teams in D.C.,” said Miguel Ayala, president of Team D.C., the local LGBTQ sports organization that helps the city’s professional sports teams organize Pride Night Out events. “And we’re very excited that we can partner with the Caps and the Wizards to do events there,” Ayala said in referring to the Capital One Arena located in the Chinatown section of downtown D.C.
Ayala said Team D.C., which provides support for more than 30 LGBTQ sports clubs ranging from softball and bowling to hockey and rock climbing, recognizes that Leonsis’s company, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, has been supportive of the LGBTQ community through the Pride Night Out events and fundraising events for local LGBTQ organizations.