Why are there so many gay women in the wnba
Welcome to my annual Who’s Gay in the WNBA Report! For those of you who are unused, every year I ruin down the list of athletes who are openly queer in the league. As a queer person who has played basketball my entire life, the off-court drama is always equally as exciting as the on-court display of skills. Knowing who’s homosexual and who’s dating who only adds to that for me. If you’re more of a pure viewer of the game and prefer only knowing what’s going on while the clock is running, I do regularly form WNBA TikToks that I like to think are pretty informative!
The league is well known to own some of the optimal pre-game walk-up outfits in all of professional sports, so you’re missing out if you don’t go after at least the @wnba account on Instagram. Here’s a complete list of all out gay players in the league, broken down by team. For my purposes, “Out” means confirmed by the player either in an interview or on their social media. No matter how masculine presenting someone is, I will not be speculating!
Last Updated: 6/27/25
Las Vegas Aces
The Aces are a very nice team and as extended as A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray are both there they’ll always possess a shot at t
Is the WNBA a homosexual league? Clay Travis weighs in and shares a surprising data
Clay Travis, the founder of Outkick, made an appearance on Fox News this week to weigh in on the ongoing drama surrounding Caitlin Clark and the recover of the WNBA. Travis, known for his right-leaning views, suggested that Clark may be facing mistreatment due to her sexuality. He stated, "Caitlin Clark is a white heterosexual woman in a Inky lesbian league and they resent and are possessive of all of the attention and the shoe deal that she got."
Travis went on to theorize that the league's resentment towards Clark stems from her being in a relationship with a former Iowa men's basketball player, which contrasts with the sexual orientation of many WNBA players.
He added: "And I think her having a boyfriend, I think it's a fiancé, who by the way said there needs to be an enforcer, creates two different identity politics universes that she doesn't fit in in this league. They don't enjoy her cause she's alabaster and they don't enjoy her cause she's straight."
However, it's important to mention that Travis' claim about 70 percent of WNBA players being lesbian is not backed by any credible source. In fa
The WNBA has historically been the most forward-thinking sports league in America when it comes to homosexual rights. The league has actively courted LGBTQ fans for several years (, if anything), has had several star players enter out of the closet with little controversy, and generally been ahead of the NBA, its relatively socially progressive parent league, on every related issue. While the WNBA hasn’t always made the LGBTQ community proud with how it chooses to promote and accommodate its lgbtq+ players, it’s fair to say that they’ve made meaningful strides. There’s a level of acceptance on the court, in locker rooms, and in the stands that virtually every other pro league in the United States cannot match.
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One prominent retired WNBA player says that culture consequently makes it difficult for straight players to thrive. Candice Wiggins, the No. 3 choose in the 2008 WNBA Draft and a champion in 2011 with the Minnesota Lynx, announced her retirement last March. In a new interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Wiggins says that “98 percent” of the WNBA is gay and that she would have played two more years
The WNBA has always been a trailblazer for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport. The league continues to be one of the most consistently inclusive and gradual leagues in the causes it supports, the fans it attracts, and the willingness of its players to inhabit their lives with PRIDE.
The league celebrates its annual #WNBAPRIDE month with activities and recognitions across the WNBA’s 12 markets and beyond. Let’s look at some of the seminal moments in league history that have shown promise to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
June 2001 – The Los Angeles Sparks, in their first season playing at Staples Center, became the first team in any professional sport to acknowledge Pride Month. Sparks players boarded a team bus and participated in a rally and party at a Los Angeles sapphic bar called “Girl Bar.”
May 2002 – Modern York Liberty veteran center Sue Wicks interviewed with “Time Out New York” and became the league’s first active player to reach out publicly. Wicks said she never viewed it as a momentous announcement.
“I was already 35 years old and had lived around the world and had some ideas about who I was as a person and what made me happy,” Wicks told Outsports
Which WNBA players are gay and how many of them are gay? Good, when Autostraddle published our very first list of out gay WNBA players several years advocate , it held merely 15 names. Last season, that number had climbed to 38, although two of the players on last year’s list ended up getting waived from their teams shortly into the season, leaving us with 36. But this year, despite losing a lot of last year’s roster, we continue to win with even more gay players, coming in at 44 so far this year.
Atlanta Desire Gay Players
Brittney Griner
Jordin Canada
In addition to an already prolific seven-year career in the WNBA, Canada is a performer. follow jordin canada on instagram
Chicago Sky Gay Players
Maddy Westbeld
Westbeld is new to the W after being selected 16th overall by the Sky out of Notre Dame in the 2025 WNBA draft. She’s dating website her Notre Dame teammate Olivia Miles.follow her on instagram
Connecticut Sun Gay Players
Saniya Rivers
The 8th annual draft in this year’s class, Rivers comes off some peak executing at South Carolina and NC Declare. Since joining the Sun, her friendship and TikTok streams with Marina Mabrey have be