WNBA Star Brtney Grer Talks About Beg First Openly Gay Athlete Endorsed by Nike - TheWrap

Contents:

• WNBA'S BRTNEY GRER ON BEG A GAY ATHLETE: I FELT LIKE HALF OF ME WASN'T ACCEPTED
• BAYLOR STAR BRTNEY GRER ACKNOWLEDG SHE IS GAY
• COLUMN: ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ IS A PUT REGIME CREATN. BRTNEY GRER IS S PRISONER
• WNBA STAR BRTNEY GRER TALKS ABOUT BEG FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE ENDORSED BY NIKE
• BRTNEY GRER DISCS BEG GAY
• TOP 5 WNBA PLAYERS WHO ARE GAY / LBIAN FEAT. BRTNEY GRER, SUE BIRD, AND MORE
• BRTNEY GRER ACKNOWLEDG SHE’S GAY, SAYS ‘JT BE WHO YOU ARE’

WNBA'S BRTNEY GRER ON BEG A GAY ATHLETE: I FELT LIKE HALF OF ME WASN'T ACCEPTED

But as a gay woman, she also felt burned by a policy wrten to the stunt handbook at her private Christian universy, which banned homosexual behavr and advocy for LGBT issu, she tells PEOPLE exclively for a portfol of gay profsnal athlet who discs their cisn to play and live openly. But after beg out to iends and fay at home Hoton om the age of 15, Grer, now, 23, says the school’s official stance – which she didn’t disver until the start of her sophomore year – ed tensn, pecially when a ach lled Grer to her office after she sent a Tweet to her then-girliend.

For more on Brtney Grer and the exclive portfol of gay profsnal athlet, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now. Pro Gay Athlet Share Their Movg Stori. Bee that moment, Grer beme the most proment openly gay basketball player the had always wanted to be upont about her sexual orientatn.

BAYLOR STAR BRTNEY GRER ACKNOWLEDG SHE IS GAY

One day, the middle of her sophomore season, she was summoned to the office of her head ach, Kim Mulkey. ”At the time, Baylor had a formal policy the stunt handbook forbiddg homosexual activy and premaral sex general.

COLUMN: ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ IS A PUT REGIME CREATN. BRTNEY GRER IS S PRISONER

“It’s hard to get at that table, beg yourself, beg Black, beg gay and beg unapologetilly yourself, ” Sun guard Courtney Williams told ESPN’s Katie Barn. But those imag, while pturg the bleakns of her current suatn, only distort the larger has always had a eper power: her abily not only to survive and thrive, but to make that ia seem possible for mak her so pellg now is precisely the same reason she has too often been overlooked Amerin society – and why she sticks out as a eful target for Vladimir Put, who has long wield vlently anti-gay rhetoric and polici to further his polil agenda. Grer was asked by SI's Maggie Gray on the difference between men's and women's sports when to acceptance of sexual orientatn; why the WNBA has been able to often embrace many lbians wh their sport, while male sports Ameri still was on s first publicly gay player.

WNBA STAR BRTNEY GRER TALKS ABOUT BEG FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE ENDORSED BY NIKE

”Sce 1993, is no longer illegal to be LGBTQ Rsia, but sce adoptg the “gay propaganda” law 2013, is illegal to talk about around a ’s right, Vladimir Put created a “don’t say gay” bill first.

Perhaps some elected officials eyeg their own versn of a “don’t say gay” law unr the guise of protectg children should take a moment of pse. WNBA star Brtney Grer broke barriers when she beme the first openly gay athlete to be endorsed by Nike, and on the eve of Saturday’s Natnal Comg Out Day, she discsed why her $1 ln ntract is openg doors for the LGBT sports muny. Also read: Whoopi Goldberg Warns Christians: Gay Marriage Is Comg Whether You Like or Not (Vio).

“It is everybody; I am all about who you are — whether you’re gay, straight or transgenr.

BRTNEY GRER DISCS BEG GAY

Also read: CW Diversy Srerd: Better But Still Wher, Ls Gay Than Its Target Audience. As of this week, 30 stat is legal for gay marriage.

Now you see lbian fai, gay fai, wh the pri nights — I give a lot of cred to the WNBA. Louis Rams, Delayg Qut to Be First Openly Gay Player NFL. “I was fely myself, but I had teammat who were gay and lbian, wasn’t talked about.

After a few months they opened up and said they were gay, but ’s not talked about there, ” Grer said. Fagan add that while NFL player Michael Sam might face homophobia, “Brtney occupi this ner sanctum space — she is facg all the ‘isms’ that no other athlete embodi.

TOP 5 WNBA PLAYERS WHO ARE GAY / LBIAN FEAT. BRTNEY GRER, SUE BIRD, AND MORE

Over the past two s, Mulkey has exhibed a pattern of disfort wh the topic of gay and lbian athlet. In the summer of 2012, for example, Mulkey spoke to Outsports -founr Cyd Zeigler, who asked her a simple qutn: “Have you ever had a gay player on your team?

BRTNEY GRER ACKNOWLEDG SHE’S GAY, SAYS ‘JT BE WHO YOU ARE’

At the time, of urse, Mulkey was g off a 2012 natnal tle at Baylor large part bee she had a gay player on her team: Fal Four Most Outstandg Player Brney Grer, who was the closet throughout her Baylor reer. And Mulkey gave this answer spe the fact that Grer had rmed Mulkey that she was gay when she was reced.

“Coach Mulkey is a member of an athletic partment, a school, a town, a state and even a regn that is known for s nservative belief system, which very much clus homophobia. As lear and in each of the arenas, Coach Mulkey has been unfairly sgled out as particularly homophobic based on what happened wh me and then Brtney Grer. Nkosi further asserted that “I had no ia what Coach Mulkey would actually say if I told her I was gay 2005, but I had enough rmatn om my life experienc to be aaid.

Perhaps, as Nkosi impli, Mulkey’s worldview uld benef by leavg such a homophobic environment. By agreeg to the LSU job, Mulkey is takg her personal history of aligng wh the stutnalized homophobia at Baylor to a public universy wh over 31, 000 stunts and numero LGBTQ+ stunt anizatns. "Grer said don't matter what others might thk of her or other gay athlet.