This listicle of trailblazing women coming out in the WNBA is part of Outsports’ monthlong series for Women’s History Month, “How women have led the way out of the closet in sports.”
On April 29, 2013, Jason Collins became the first active gay NBA player to publicly come out. That was news on many fronts.
At that time, there still seemed to be an unspoken prohibition on being out in the WNBA. It wasn’t so long ago that the LGBTQ outreach — to fans in particular – we see today from the league was an outlier. The fear then was, if the league was perceived as “too gay,” then nobody would watch.
Reports abounded that people within the league and some of the teams pushed players to stay in the closet, dress femininely in public and just generally tamp down the “lesbian thing” in the WNBA.
Yet in that environment, six courageous WNBA players did come out publicly between the league’s first tip-off in 1997 and that watershed day for the men’s pro game in 2013, when Collins bravely broke the barrier of an out gay man in the men’s Big Four sports leagues in America forever.
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The former New York Liberty forward and 2000 WNBA All-Star was inducted in the Women’s Basketball Hall Of Fame in 2013 after a stellar collegiate and overseas professional career prior to the formation of the WNBA.
In 2002, she made a clutch play off the court. She was the subject of an profile for “Time Out New York”, after the interview the reporter followed up because an editor wanted to know if she was gay. Her answer was a simple but seismic “yes”.
“There were so many societal pressures, family pressures around me telling me not to be myself. That’s where we were at that moment,” Wicks recounted to New York Newsday in 2023. “It felt like an exciting moment and a liberating moment.”
The former center for the New York Liberty, Portland Fire and Minnesota Lynx played in the league from 1999-2004. During the 2004 season, she handled her coming out as lesbian the same way she handled business in the paint — matter-of-fact bluntness.
“It’s no big deal,” Van Gorp told reporters when she disclosed to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune during that season. “It’s just who I am. “It doesn’t really matter. In the long run, it’s a league about basketball.”
Photo Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY
In the social and financial calculus of 2005, anyone in sports coming out was still seen as severe risk. That reality makes what Sheryl Swoopes’ coming out that year after earning her third WNBA MVP Award even more extraordinary.
By that time, the Houston Comets superstar had space in both Halls of Fame waiting, three Olympic gold medals, and even her own Nike shoe model, but there was she larger she wanted.
“My reason for coming out now isn’t to be some sort of hero,” she told ESPN The Magazine in the 2005 article where she disclosed. “It’s not something that I want to throw in people’s faces. I’m just at a point in my life where I’m tired of having to pretend to be somebody I’m not.”
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The former center for the Charlotte Sting, New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx for 9 seasons was the first overall pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft. She was best known for her toughness as forward-center on the floor and cocky, humorous demeanor in the locker room.
Yet it was in the middle of the fallout of her controversial suspension as a member of the Liberty that she came out in an in-depth interview with sports writer/author Lyndsey D’Arcangelo for Curve Magazine in 2012.
“I just live my life as I want. I don’t hide or change who I am,” McCarville said. “Not once has my lifestyle
affected my ability as a player to perform.”
Even while keeping things even keel, she still had to add a little trademark sass.
“I have never been told to hide anything,” she continued. “I’m not saying it was always smooth sailing for me, but every now and again I enjoy rocking the boat.”
Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Heading into the 2012 WNBA season Seimone Augustus had two titles with the Minnesota Lynx, Rookie of the year honors earned in 2006, was eyeing a second Olympic gold medal, and she was planning wedding while marriage equality would be on the ballot in Minnesota that fall.
Under that backdrop, Augustus came out and spoke out.
“I felt like it was the perfect time for me, being on a platform where I can make a change with my voice and my situation,” She stated to the Associated Press in October 2012. “Maybe inspire someone else to come out and be comfortable with themselves. Or maybe someone else’s parents will see my parents saying that it’s OK to be with your child and love your child unconditionally.”
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Photo Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Brittney Griner today is a perennial all-star with all the titles and accolades to match. The longtime center with the Phoenix Mercury and Atlanta Dream has space in Springfield and Knoxville waiting when she retires.
But her coming out moment came just as she was first coming in to the league. The number one pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft, coming off a decorated college career at Baylor, disclosed publicly with the same ease in which she blocks shots.
“I’ve always been really open about my sexuality and who I am,” she said.
“I never thought a big coming out was necessary. If I can show that I’m out and I’m fine and everything’s OK, then hopefully the younger generation will definitely feel the same way.”
That younger generation now includes what amount to nearly 30% of the league roster as we head into the 2026 season.
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