It’s Brittney Bit¢#!

Shaquille O’Neal went into the NBA shattering backboards. And after what is now considered one of the most anticipated drafts in the WNBA, the number one draft pick of 2013, Brittney Griner, is shattering stereotypes. She’s already made a name for herself in the league and has yet to play one game. Only two days after being drafted, Brittney came out publicly as a lesbian in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

Brittney is no stranger to public attention, physically speaking, Griner is quite a specimen; she stands at 6 foot 8, her wingspan is 7’ 4’’. She comes into the league after having dominated as the best center in college. As a student at Baylor University, Griner was a 3 time All American and 2-time AP of the year, and was named Most Outstanding Player in the 2012 Final Four; the year Baylor won the national championship. She is the second all-time scoring leader in women’s NCAA making history with 3,283 points.  She blocked 748 shots, more than any man or woman in college basketball, and had 18 career dunks, 11 of those in her last season. She’s a force to be reckoned with, she can block shots, alter shots, grab rebounds, pass over opponents’ heads and move without the ball.

Brittney is tall, funny, can be kind of quiet yet is very articulated and ready to make a statement. Her presence alone makes you pay attention; she’s 6’8’’ how can you not. This woman is not only athletically gifted; she is also smart and good hearted. She is intent on using her popularity as a platform to motivate others. She specifically wants to reach young people and make them feel comfortable with being themselves; she wants to destigmatize “being gay” and being gender non-conforming. In her interview with Sports Illustrated, Brittney stated:

"Being one that's out, it's just being who you are. Again, like I said, just be who you are. Don't worry about what other people are going to say, because they're always going to say something, but, if you're just true to yourself, let that shine through. Don't hide who you really are."

Not even all the accolades and athleticism protected Brittney from being harassed for being ‘different’. A few times I read postgame interviews or any article about Griner and was disgusted and disturbed by peoples’ comments, questioning her sex, her gender and sexuality and not in the nicest way either. Still today if you enter her name on Google you’ll see search phrases such as “Brittney Griner man,” all because she has the athletic build and skills unlike any other female basketball player, college or professional, we’d seen before. There was even a point during the 2012 season that Kim Mulkey, Baylor’s women’s basketball coach, publicly defended and condemned the comments folks were making about Griner on various social media sites. When asked by the AP what is was like to stand out, Brittney replied:

''It was hard. Just being picked on for being different. Just being bigger, my sexuality, everything…I overcame it and got over it. Definitely something that I am very passionate about. I want to work with kids and bring recognition to the problem, especially with the LGBT community.''

Now as a professional baller, Brittney continues to shatter the limitations imposed on women who don’t fit the norm and to push gender scripts. She is a skateboarding, fashionista who showed up to the WNBA draft wearing an all-white suit, Converse low-tops, orange argyle socks and orange nail polish to match the Phoenix Mercury team colors, where she’ll be starting off her WNBA career. There are so many expectations placed on Griner, the WNBA is counting on her success, as well as Elena Della Done and Skylar Diggins’, the number 2 and number 3 2013 draft picks respectively, to help move the league forward and extend its viewership. But for Griner her eyes and heart are set higher than just basketball.

Griner of course is not the first female athlete to come out, there are other icons like

Billie Jean King, Renee Richards, Martina Navratilova, Lauren Lappin, Fallon Fox and Megan Rapinoe who have courageously come out and transformed their respective sports. But is this precedent of women paving the way for young athletes like Griner, to come out, the reason why her announcement was treated with lack of interest by the media? I haven’t heard anything over the radio waves these last few days. The sports media has been more focused on the anticipation of the NFL schedule (seriously? It’s just a schedule) and now the NLF draft.  The muted response to Brittney’s announcement from the sports world has to do with the sexism and stereotypes that pervade female sports. In other words, it has been assumed for a long time that if you’re a woman and play sports/are athletic/competitive then you must be a lesbian. So Brittney coming is just seen as well, another lesbian playing sports.

Because many straight female athletes have had to fight being perceived as lesbian, many at times have been too busy fighting these perceptions and less interested in being supportive of LGBT causes. Which is another factor that makes Griner’s situation unique, during her interviews she was being supported by Della Done and Diggins. Plus, now the league is not shying away or ostracizing players that don’t conform to conventional standards of femininity. Since taking her post in 2011, Laurel Richie, the President of the WNBA, a long time marketing veteran, has been putting much effort into transforming the WNBA’s image. She changed the league’s logo to depict a player driving to the basket, which is supposed to represent the league’s growing diversity and athleticism. Sadly, despite this and other efforts in women’s athletics to speak out on LGBT issues and challenge the stigma, ostracism and violence that LGBT folks experience the entire sports world is indifferent and is still holding their collective breath for that one professional male athlete to come out and rock our universe, underestimating the contributions that these females athletes are already making.