I'm told this did not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed this womanÂ’s career and personal life over the last several years.

Calling life in the closet "miserable," three-time Olympic gold medalist and reigning WNBA MVP Sheryl Swoopes announced she is gay in an exclusive interview in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine.

"My reason for coming out isn't to be some sort of hero," Swoopes, a forward with the Houston Comets, says in the article. "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.

And, of course, about the big endorsement deal you just signed.

Houston Comets forward Sheryl Swoopes, the WNBA's 2005 most valuable player, will announce today that she will become a spokeswoman for Olivia, a cruise line dedicated to lesbian travelers, and that she is a lesbian, according to a person close to the three-time Olympian.

"The talk about the WNBA being full of lesbians is not true," Swoopes says. "There are as many straight women in the league as there are gay.”

Uh – if there are, then there is a serious overrepresentation in the league, and the concerns the WNBA has had to deal with about being a league for lesbians are very real. After all, don’t the studies show that lesbians account for no more than 5% of the American population, not 50%? Is there perhaps a need for an affirmative action program for straight women in the WNBA?

Personally, I’m not interested in Swoopes’ personal life. I’m really not even a fan of her sport (in the male or female leagues), though I hear about her from my colleagues who coach and watch basketball. But I do hope that her career is not harmed – or helped – by her sexual orientation.

UPDATE: What do you make of this?

"Do I think I was born this way? No," Swoopes said. "And that's probably confusing to some, because I know a lot of people believe that you are."

Does that mean that she made a choice to be a lesbian -- exactly the opposite of what the professional homosexuals tell us is the case?

(Hat Tip -- Safety for Dummies and Brothers Judd)

Posted by: Greg at 01:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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