As much as the two commodities can be thought of in the same vein, Brittney Griner’s basketball playing style is a blend of power and grace.
At 6-foot-8, Griner, the first player chosen in last week’s WNBA draft, is the all-time women’s college basketball leader in blocked shots and dunks, testaments to her ability to dominate. But her on-court movements are fluid and smooth as she moves up and down the court with poise and charm.
At that height, it would be difficult for anyone to associate Griner with subtlety, yet her declaration that she is a lesbian was just that: understated and quiet. In response to a question from a Sports Illustrated reporter on why men and women athletes handle the acceptance of gay players differently, Griner said she didn’t understand why it was an issue, because she personally had always been out and comfortable with her sexuality.
Her matter-of-fact disclosure had the air of “this is no big deal,” and to a degree, Griner is right.
Female athletes have been quite at ease with discussing their sexual orientation and then dealing with whatever ramifications came with the disclosure.
From Martina Navratilova to Sheryl Swoopes to tennis player Amalie Mauresmo to soccer player Megan Rapinoe, women who play and are also gay seem to increasingly be at peace with who they are and in letting the public share. This has, by no means, been a simple evolution. No doubt, every woman who has emerged from the closet has borne the scars of fear and ignorance, as society continues to struggle with issues of sexuality.
At Baylor University, a Baptist school where Griner starred and led the Lady Bears to a national title and three Final Four appearances, advocacy of homosexual behavior is a violation of student policy, much less being gay or lesbian. The school’s stance helped drive Emily Niemann, a talented center who played a reserve role in Baylor’s first national title in 2005, out of the school. Niemann, who was named to the All Final Four team that year, transferred after one season at Baylor, in large measure because she was in love with another woman. The school denies that a student has ever been expelled for being gay, but it should be noted that Griner did not declare her orientation until after her Baylor eligibility had expired.
And the premise of the Sports Illustrated question to Griner still holds: While some women athletes have come to grips with living openly with their sexual orientation, apparently none of their male American counterparts are. That is the logical conclusion to be drawn by the notion that no male athlete in the four major U.S. team sports--football, baseball, basketball or hockey--have come out of the closet, despite the evidence that suggests that there are gay players in those sports.
Former Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbedejo has posited that four NFL players may declare their orientation on the same day so as to draw what would be intense attention away from a single person who came out. If they were smart, they’d take lessons from the quietly graceful way Brittney Griner emerged from the closet. But then, how often have men been willing to learn anything about sports from a woman?