WNBA’s Sue Bird Announces She’s Gay And Dating Megan Rapinoe
July 20, 2017 in Sports News
WNBA Legend Sue Bird publicly announced that she’s gay and that she is in a relationship with former U.S. soccer star player Megan Rapinoe, although she realized she was gay while at the University of Connecticut.
“I’m gay, Megan is my girlfriend … These are not secrets for people who know me,” Bird said in an interview with ESPNW’s Mechelle Voepel.
Bird, hardly the first WNBA player to come out as gay, said that she decided to go public now because it should happen when you feel good about it and now was the right time for her to make the announcement.
In the past year, fellow WNBA stars Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) and Elena Delle Donne (Washington Mystics) also came out. Other who also have declared themselves as gay are Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury), Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), and Angel McCoughty (Atlanta Dream).
Bird, 36, was a two-time national champion at U-Conn. She was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 WNBA draft by the Seattle Storm, with whom she has spent her entire career
She’s one of the WNBA’s most famous players as she she’s a ten time the All-Star player and a four-time Olympic champion with the United States women’s basketball team.
Her partner, Megan Rapinoe, 32, is an American professional soccer midfielder/winger who plays for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women’s Soccer League. As a member of the United States women’s national soccer team, she helped the U.S. win gold at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2012 London Olympics, and silver at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Bird told espnW she is pleased that the WNBA has reached out to its LGBT fans over the recent years, but she said the league faces many other challenges such as racial and gender issues.