Sue Wicks, former WNBA player, rells beg the first openly gay player a major U.S. team sport - Newsday

Contents:

• THE 77 WNBA PLAYERS THAT HAVE COME OUT AS GAY LBIAN, TRANS OR NON-BARY
• WNBA STARS WONR WHEN THE 'STIGMA' AWAG AN OPENLY GAY NBA PLAYER WILL END
• CANDICE WIGGS SAYS 98 PERCENT OF WNBA IS GAY, CLAIMS SHE WAS BULLIED FOR BEG STRAIGHT
• SUE WICKS, FORMER WNBA PLAYER, RELLS BEG THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER A MAJOR U.S. TEAM SPORT
• THE 2021 WNBA ALL-STAR GAME IS THE GAYT PROFSNAL BASKETBALL GAME EVER
• CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS SOCIAL STUDI TEXTBOOKS THAT CLU GAY RIGHTS AFTER WARNGS OM ERNOR
• WNBA STAR BRTNEY GRER TALKS ABOUT BEG FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE ENDORSED BY NIKE

THE 77 WNBA PLAYERS THAT HAVE COME OUT AS GAY LBIAN, TRANS OR NON-BARY

Beanna Stewart has had a 2021 for the ag: proposg to girliend and WNBA rival Marta Xargay May, wng her send Olympic gold medal Augt, and welg her first child to the world one day later.

Not only was their birthday a huge tone for women’s profsnal basketball, but the league’s growth has cid wh a growg acceptance of players that intify as gay, lbian, bisexual and trans. I remember when the WNBA kicked off and though there was an assumptn that there mt have been gay players the league, yet no player was open about their sexualy. Even though some outlets have approximated of the percentage of LGBTQ players the WNBA the real number will always be accurate as long as homophobia exists all ’s forms.

The te percentage of WNBA players that intify as gay or lbian will always be termed by how acceptg society of differenc sexualy and genr, and th, how fortable players are of g out of the closet the public eye.

WNBA STARS WONR WHEN THE 'STIGMA' AWAG AN OPENLY GAY NBA PLAYER WILL END

We piled this list bee we know that the qutn of how many gay WNBA players there are and bee there’s not a lot of reputable rmatn to be had; leads to stereotyp beg perpetuated and biased opns are taken as fact.

CANDICE WIGGS SAYS 98 PERCENT OF WNBA IS GAY, CLAIMS SHE WAS BULLIED FOR BEG STRAIGHT

We saw the lack of available rearch as an opportuny to provi rmatn that is actually rearched wh the ntext of how culture affects the number of out gay and lbian WNBA players. That’s also te the WNBA where All-Stars Dewanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are engaged, former teammat Penny Taylor and Trasi are married, current teammat Allie Quigley and Courtney Vanrsloot have also wed, Natisha Heiman and Jasme Thomas are upled up and Breanna Stewart and Marta Xargay have a child together.

All that said beg one of the top players don’t exclu you om experiencg homophobia or the feelgs of fear, anxiety and shame. Beg bullied, havg feelgs of not beg accepted for beg gay or not fully g out aren’t unique to WNBA players whatsoever.

SUE WICKS, FORMER WNBA PLAYER, RELLS BEG THE FIRST OPENLY GAY PLAYER A MAJOR U.S. TEAM SPORT

And every WNBA superstar that is out now cludg Augt, Grer, Bird, McCoughtry, Candace Parker, Stewart, Katie Smh, and Jonquel Jon to name a few have all spoke to the glass closet they’re workg agast and homophobia that they’ve experienced that have silenced them. We’ve foced on g as gay or lbian and haven’t even approached the subject om the cross sectn of the multiple inti that are at play.

THE 2021 WNBA ALL-STAR GAME IS THE GAYT PROFSNAL BASKETBALL GAME EVER

By also then intifyg as Gay, Lbian, Bi-Sexual, Queer or Trans Black woman, well that pretty much tak all offers off the table. Sue Bird dumbed down how racism, sexism, and homophobia together to work agast the WNBA an ESPN terview: “To be pletely blunt, but also kd of simple, soccer players generally are cute ltle whe girls. Whether straight or gay, the great thg about the WNAB is that they’re unified their support of one another – not only terms of women’s sports, but genr equy, racial jtice, and issu impactg the LGBTQIA+ muny as all three h very close to home.

Though there is a lot of ternalized and systemic homophobia the WNBA to unpack and remove, ’s no surprise that the league go big durg Pri month. (Getty Imag)The Team USA Women’s Basketball squad clus four players that have e out as gay, cludg most recent WNBA MVP and current Team USA Women’s Basketball medal hopeful Elena Delle Donne. Save for a few mors and nuendo workg alongsi the knowledge that NBA rosters have seen heaps of closeted gay players through the that’s unfortunate.

”And Diana Trasi:“That’s a subject that is so taboo men’s sports, (where) if you brg up anythg gay they n out of the room like ’s a vis, ” said Diana Trasi, the Phoenix Mercury guard. They’re playg sports, sports require all sorts of machismo and heaps of other stereotyp associated wh heterosexual mal, and the prevailg wisdom amongst the wisdom-ls is that gay women are overwhelmgly more mascule than their female heterosexual is all uproarly false and ridiculo, but even the supposed enlightened tim this is what we’re still alg sad yet prevailg illogil extensn of this is that some WNBA players would of urse have to be gay.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS SOCIAL STUDI TEXTBOOKS THAT CLU GAY RIGHTS AFTER WARNGS OM ERNOR

And to some dimws, probably lends an air of enhanced credibily to a sport that the dimws are (dimwtedly) not same dimwtedns stas how many regard the NBA, which at last check only featur male basketball all the advancements North Ameri has ma culturally over the last few years, we’re still 12 years removed om an cumbent printial ndidate attemptg to make a untry-wi ban of gay marriage a top electn talkg pot even durg wartime. No recent NBA players e savvier or better-traveled than Kobe Bryant or Joakim Noah, and yet both were fed recent years for yellg homophobic slurs. (AP)The WNBA has historilly been the most forward-thkg sports league Ameri when to gay rights.

While the WNBA hasn’t always ma the LGBTQ muny proud wh how choos to promote and acmodate s gay players, ’s fair to say that they’ve ma meangful stris. In a new terview wh the San Diego Unn-Tribune, Wiggs says that “98 percent” of the WNBA is gay and that she would have played two more years if not for the “toxic” environment that affected her as a straight woman:“I wanted to play two more seasons of WNBA, but the experience didn’t lend self to my mental state, ” Wiggs said. So acrdg to the numbers, I intify as gay now— Deverex Peters (@MsPeters14) Febary 20, 2017It’s tough to asss all of Wiggs’s statements, bee she is ultimately scribg a personal experience that have not yet been refuted.

That piece did not feature any explic reference to the prsure of beg straight a very gay ’s difficult to read this piece, then, whout wonrg exactly where Wiggs is g om. Usg hyperbole to make a pot is not herently wrong, but dog to st a historilly margalized group (gay women, many of whom are also black) as a bullyg force rais ncerns. The LGBT movement emerged as early as the 1870s, but homosexual rights groups didn't appear until after World War II September 1945.

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

To add onto the topic of the Warrrs, print Rick Welts me out as gay an terview wh the New York Tim 2011. Homophobia is somethg that shouldn't have a place sports bee LGBT folks n be fans, media members, employe and executiv too.

" We, as a untry, need to une and not jt bee of the tragic gay nightclub shootg Orlando, Florida, that occurred last summer.

His fay reportedly had mixed emotns towards the announcement, but he still changed the game, beg the first Divisn I men's basketball player to e out as gay and play gam.