Sue bird is gay

Sue Bird admitted that she struggled with being openly gay during her first several years in the WNBA. WNBA superstar Sue Bird publicly announced that she was gay and dating Seattle Reign and USWNT star soccer player Megan Rapinoe in an article from Mechelle Voepel of ESPNW.

Thankfully, Bird found her way out of the closet in a public way in , revealing her relationship with Rapinoe. Today, about a quarter of the league is publicly out as LGBTQ, including some. WNBA All-Star Sue Bird joins SportsCenter to explain why she chose to share her sexual orientation with the world now and talks about her relationship with soccer star Megan Rapinoe. more. SEATTLE, WA — Arguably the most accomplished basketball player in UConn's illustrious history revealed Thursday that she is gay and is dating U.S.

women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe. We aim to break boundaries, think outside of binaries and build bridges within our communities and beyond. Stay connected, and tell a friend. Credit: Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Before I even knew how to read, my dad made sure I knew how to cheer for University of Connecticut basketball. That meant Suzanne Bird, who graduated from UConn in after an undefeated season, went on to join the WNBA and was a permanent fixture on the living room TV where my dad watched nearly every game.

Anyone who followed college basketball in those years, or who has kept up with the WNBA since, likely had a similar experience: Bird was one of the most decorated and dominant players in the league, and the world. Then we see her as a generational talent in her twenties, being drafted in the number-one slot by the Seattle Storm. In the latter part of her career, we learn, Bird has pushed for better pay, more media coverage and stronger collective bargaining agreements for WNBA players.

And as is often the case with love letters, it sometimes falls into fawning rather than capturing the full complexity of Bird as a person. The things that one might imagine to be her greatest challenges—like the three surgeries she underwent between and —are framed mainly as propelling forces for her later successes. In , Bird was playing basketball in Russia to supplement her low pay with the Storm and to stay in shape during the off-season, a common practice for WNBA players.

According to Bird, von Kalmanovic was hands-on with the team, lavishing them with gifts and attention. He seemed to view owning the Moscow Spartak as a true passion project, and based on reports at the time, he and Bird shared a close relationship. And yet, the film narrativizes his death more as a general shock, and a good reason to pay players well enough to stay in the U.

But how and whether that sadness impacted her—how she managed to suppress it or struggled to overcome it or simply found it easily surmountable—is less clear. Repeatedly throughout the film, those close to Bird describe her ability to simultaneously think on her feet and to see the long game, always while staying cool under pressure. By the time this documentary was made, this kind of insistently, logistically optimistic framing seems to have been cemented into a Sue Bird trademark, perhaps one that was even key to her success as a point guard.

One of the loveliest parts of the film is the freeness Bird feels when she talks about coming out publicly as an opportunity to come into her own. Who I am now.

WNBA All-Star Sue Bird

She began dating Rapinoe in , who encouraged her to come out publicly so that she might serve as a role model for others. Ultimately, the drive to illuminate a possible path for those coming up behind her is at the heart of Sue Bird: In the Clutch. It was just obvious. What I can easily believe and recognize, though, is the ambivalence of announcing a life-changing decision, knowing that speaking something to an audience makes it real.

But beneath the layers of posturing, there is a kernel of truth to the idea that what we see around us helps us understand what the world can hold, for better or for worse. But, as cheesy as it may sound, it does mean that anyone can be an inspiration. Watching this documentary, I remember that child version of me, and how she marvelled at the women on the screen as they flashed up and down the court in a sweaty, mesmerizing blur.

I feel connected to her—and to possible future versions of myself, growing more elegant and assured with age too. She is based in New York City. Communication not private: Your email will be forwarded to the writer by an Xtra editor. Skip to content. Need A Suggestion? We got You