WNBA star comes out, gains wide support

WNBA basketball superstar Sheryl Swoopes has announced that she is a lesbian. Swoopes is the most prominent professional team sport athlete to come out while still an active player in the history of U.S. sports. Add to that that she is also the highest profile African American athlete to come out, and one can begin to see how courageous she really is.

Sheryl Swoopes

Swoopes said she has gotten nothing but support since she came out. "Getting through the first day and having all the positive reaction and feedback that I had made me wake up this morning and say, 'OK, today is going to be a breeze.'"

Swoopes is a forward for the Houston Comets and a five-time All-Star in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She has been named the league's Most Valuable Player three times, more than any other player. In fact, she was just honored with the 2005 MVP award this past September. With her, the Comets won four consecutive league championships from 1997-2000.

While piling up all these accolades, Swoopes said late in October that she had dreamed about the day when she could attend an awards banquet with Alisa Scott, her partner of seven years, on her arm. Scott is a former assistant coach with the Comets.

"We have had to celebrate behind closed doors," she said.

Swoopes stated, "I'm just at a point in my life where I'm tired of having to pretend to be somebody I'm not. I'm tired of having to hide my feelings about the person I care about. About the person I love."

Now Swoopes says she finally feels free and would like to one day marry Scott. Swoopes is divorced and has an 8-year old son, Jordan. When contemplating whether to come out, Swoopes said thoughts of him were foremost on her mind. "He goes to bed every night and he's peaceful and when I see that I never question that what I'm doing is right," she said.

Swoopes was one of the original marquee players for the WNBA's opening season in 1996. She was the first woman to have a Nike shoe named after her, the "Air Swoopes." And continues to hold a contract with Nike. Along with coming out, Swoopes announced that she will be the spokeswoman for Olivia Resorts and Cruises, a lesbian-owned company that caters to lesbians.

One of her biggest concerns she admits is that "people are going to look at my homosexuality and say to little girls--whether they're white, Black, Hispanic--that I can't be their role model anymore. I don't want that to happen. I'm still the same person."

But she said, "If a kid out there who is struggling with their identity can read this article and say, 'If she did it I can deal with this,' then this is worth it."

"I don't think there's any secret that the huge support we get comes from the gay and lesbian community," Swoopes, added, "It's unfortunate that people are not able to feel like they can be who they are. They lose endorsements, they lose friends and family. It is a 'don't ask, don't tell' type of thing [within the WNBA]."

The WNBA and all women's sports are riddled with homophobia. For example, at Penn State, Jen Harris was abruptly dismissed from the basketball team after last season. She is claiming that she was kicked off the team by coach Rene Portland because of suspected homosexuality. Before the school adopted a non-discrimination policy in the early 1990s, Portland had gone on record about having a no-lesbian policy.

On the Internet where fans have been discussing the issue, one fan summed it up: "Just keep putting the ball in the hoop."