Magic Johnson and wife Cookie are proud parents. The couple's 20-year-old son Earvin Johnson III -- aka EJ -- came out as gay on Monday night in Los Angeles, chatting with TMZ as he hit Sunset Boulevard holding hands with another young man identified as his boyfriend.
Heading into a club with his pal, New York University student EJ told TMZ he's "hoping and praying" for the Los Angeles Dodgers, which his famous father purchased last year. "Cookie and I love E.J. and support him in every way," basketball legend Magic Johnson, 53, told TMZ in a statement. "We're very proud of him."
Magic and wife Cookie have been married since 1991 and also share daughter Elisa, 18; he also has a 21-year-old son, Andre, from a previous relationship.
Revealing his HIV status back in 1991, the sports legend has long been an ally of the LGBT community. "Homophobia is still an issue everywhere, but especially in the black community," he told Huffington Post
Canada in 2011. Back in 2008, he also called for Californians to defeat Proposition 8, calling the same-sex marriage ban "unfair and wrong . . . Prop 8 singles out one group of Californians to be treated differently -- including members of our family, our friends, and our coworkers," he said.
