WNBA player and Olympic champion Sue Bird has come out publicly in an article with ESPNW. Bird told Mechelle Voepel that her sexual orientation isn’t a surprise to anyone who knows her. From ESPNW:
"I'm gay. Megan's my girlfriend … these aren't secrets to people who know me," Bird says. "I don't feel like I've not lived my life. I think people have this assumption that if you're not talking about it, you must be hiding it, like it's this secret. That was never the case for me."
So why talk about it now? "It's happening when it's happening because that's what feels right," Bird says. "So even though I understand there are people who think I should have done it sooner, it wasn't right for me at the time. I have to be true to that. It's my journey."
Talk about a power couple in sports! Bird recently won Olympic gold in Rio with the U.S. women’s basketball team (her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal), and Rapinoe is part of the defending World Cup champion U.S. women’s soccer team. Both of them are two of the biggest names in their sport in the United States.
It is interesting what Bird said about people already knowing. Frankly, I was surprised to see she wasn’t publicly out already. Still, her story and being out will help countless people continue their journey to self-acceptance, and it’s wonderful to see her take this step.
Head over to ESPNW for the full article and interview with Bird, in which she talks about almost coming out a year about, but says she “chickened out.”
