WEST HOLLYWOOD — Basketball legend Magic Johnson takes the lead in the pro-LGBT rights movement, publicly supporting his newly out gay son, Earvin “EJ” Johnson.
TMZ posted a video Monday of Magic Johnson’s 20-year-old son, Earvin “EJ” Johnson III, strolling down the Sunset Strip holding hands with another man. EJ Johnson, a college student at NYU, wore what appeared to be a furry black vest, and a pink quilted leather bag over his arm, triggering a media frenzy which forced his dad to come clean.
In an interview with TMZ founder Harvey Levin, Magic Johnson said he and his wife have known for years their son was gay. “We finally had to sit down and talk about it,” Magic Johnson said. “I told him, ‘Look, I’m gonna love you regardless, just let me know. Are you or aren’t you? And he finally said yes.’ ”
Magic Johnson said EJ was around 12, 13 or 14 at the time and had only discussed his sexuality with his two closest friends. “It was I think a hard conversation only because he was so young, and what do you tell him at that age and what do you say to him?” Magic Johnson said. “I told him ‘Hey, we are here to support you, man. We just want you to love yourself and also make sure that you have all the information …. I love EJ so much. That’s my main man.”
Johnson, a friend of the LGBT community, shocked the world when he announced in 1991 that he was HIV positive. Since then, he’s been an advocate for gay rights, especially in the black community, working to defeat California’s gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, which was argued last week in the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I think he really wanted to be out, but he was torn,” Johnson told Levin. “This was a good moment for us as a family and a greater moment for him. He said, ‘This is my moment. This my time, and I am just happy to share with the world who I am.’ And I said, ‘Go EJ, Go.’ ”