Los Angeles Chivas USA players Justin
Braun and Michael Lahoud have posed for the NOH8 Campaign ahead of
the team's Equality Night.
Proceeds from the Saturday, July 23
soccer game against the Houston Dynamo will benefit the Los Angeles
Gay & Lesbian Center.
According
to its organizers, the event is the first-ever in the world of
professional soccer.
The NOH8 Campaign, which is helmed by
photographer-activist Adam Bouska and his partner Jeff Parshley,
raises awareness and funds for gay rights causes, including ending
California's 2008 voter-approved gay marriage ban, Proposition 8.
The group photographs celebrities and
everyday folks with their mouths duct taped and the campaign's
familiar “NOH8” slogan often written on one cheek.
Braun, who plays forward, and Sierra
Leon-born Lahoud, who plays midfielder, will be playing against
another NOH8 Campaign celebrity: Houston Dynamo defender Mike
Chabala. Chabala
posed for the campaign last year.
Also at the event will be the Los
Angeles Gay Men's Chorus to sing the National Anthem and West
Hollywood Mayor John Duran, who has also posed for the campaign.