Throughout the past seven years since Griner arrived in Phoenix, she’s been an All-Star for the city on and off the court. I was very vocal on being a part of the LGBTQ community and wanting to get involved anyway I could.
“The city, the team, the players, the organization, front office really got behind me and everything I wanted to do. “Coming to Arizona, I didn’t know what to expect,” Griner said. Although she had been warned that this could potentially hurt her career, Griner was proud of who she was and her new organization of the Mercury were right there to support her. On April 17, 2013, just two days after being drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, Griner came out publicly as a lesbian. I wanted to help the younger me, when I was a kid, give them somebody for them to look up to.” “I wanted to be able to look in the mirror and tell myself that I was being true to me. “Once I came out in sports, I basically told myself, ‘I’m coming out, officially,” Griner said.
Comfortable in her own skin and never wanting others to face the same judgement she dealt with, Griner is using her global platform to provide a voice for those in need. Brittney Griner’s career isn’t a failure, that much is obvious, but the hateful comments she received when she was younger almost held one of the league’s all-time players to not be who she truly is.
