Pride Night in Chicago an important show of support

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Last year, the WNBA announced recognition of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fans by adding "WNBA Pride" as one of the league's marketing initiatives. Tuesday, before Chicago met New York at Allstate Arena, fans gathered for a discussion on various topics related to the Sky's Pride Night of 2015.

I was there along with Hudson Taylor, founder and executive director of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit organization that aims to unite people of all orientations and gender identities to work together to end discrimination against LGBT individuals in sports.

Having covered women's basketball since 1984, I know how different things were in the sport three decades ago. One story I told Tuesday was about overhearing a women's hoops coach in the 1980s give a directive to her players about a gathering that would include some school officials and boosters. There would be music, and thus likely some dancing, so ...

"You better make sure men are there," the coach said, which a player later told me was understood to mean that straight players should bring boyfriends and gay players should try to get a male friend to attend.

If this sounds utterly absurd, of course it was. But at that time, it seemed like a pragmatic request from a coach who wasn't telling her players they couldn't be gay -- just that they had to keep it firmly on the down low. Deception was, in a way, a requirement.

You don't have to look back nearly that far to see a similar mindset. It still exists -- even with all the progress made, the increasing number of prominent people to come out and last week's Supreme Court decision about marriage equality.

Which is why things like Pride Night in Chicago are important, and the organization should be commended for its effort.

Various WNBA franchises have responded to the Pride initiative in different ways over the past year, and the concept of how best to implement the steps it is still evolving. But while the WNBA took heat in the past for not publicly acknowledging the LGBT community as part of both its workforce and its audience, the league is at the forefront now.

"Among players, we're talking about this and celebrating it. We're proud that this is happening," Chicago's Elena Delle Donne said. "We'll continue to support it and continue these discussions.

"We're about equality, and that's also what America is about. It's great to see the Supreme Court ruling. It's awesome that we've been a leader in this."

That said, there are certain players and organizations less comfortable with Pride, even if they don't say so directly or publicly. Last year, I was at San Antonio for what was a "sort of but not really" Pride night. It wasn't acknowledged in any way by the Stars organization, and gay fans at the arena resignedly told me they were used to being treated as if they didn't exist.

There was an Athlete Ally discussion after that game, and the player who came was a straight ally, San Antonio's Jayne Appel. I asked her then whether it bothered her that none of her gay teammates attended the discussion. She said she wished some of them would have come but she understood why they didn't.

"I respect my teammates if they're not comfortable putting themselves out there," she said. "I don't want to push them into it. I want them to take the initiative."

Tuesday in Chicago, our discussion was about an hour before tipoff and didn't include any players, as they were busy preparing for the game. The Sky organization will evaluate how this Pride Night went and then perhaps make some changes for next year.

But the colorful thundersticks, the roster cards that said "Pride Night," the signs saying, "I support equality," the rainbow basketball T-shirts, the pregame discussion -- they were all part of the Sky's effort to make LGBT players and fans feel welcome and supported.

"Taking this stance, it is really nice," said New York's Candice Wiggins after the visiting Liberty's 89-81 victory over the Sky. "It's good to open up the conversation, to get people more comfortable with things that maybe before they didn't identify with. I was just talking about it to one of my teammates, 'What if the NBA got into having a Pride Night? I wonder what it would be like.' But I think we're setting a great example."

That true. It's notable how far ahead the WNBA is on this compared to, say, the LPGA, which frankly doesn't seem to even acknowledge LGBT fans or players.

Taylor, a former college wrestler, started Athlete Ally because as a straight, cisgender man, he was alarmed and dismayed by the sexism, homophobia and transphobia that seemed so ingrained in the general sports world. Taylor's mantra is that unless people speak out, those things go unchallenged. And that's destructive for everyone.

Saturday in Minnesota, I spoke with the Lynx's Seimone Augustus about the WNBA Pride initiative and what it means to her. Augustus is among the league's most prominent stars to be openly gay, something she'd talked about publicly for several years. In May, she married her partner of eight years.

"A lot of fans identified themselves as LGBT, and they felt like we weren't doing enough," said Augustus, who has been in the WNBA since 2006. "But when they came out with the Pride games and showed support for the community, it's taken off from there. It's like we were opening the door and finally embracing the people who've been our loyal supporters for so long."

Augustus also talked about her joy and relief in hearing the Supreme Court's ruling, as her marriage is now valid in every state. But also of concern to Augustus and other WNBA players -- most of whom play overseas in the winter and early spring -- are attitudes and laws affecting gay people in other countries. Atlanta star Angel McCoughtry, for instance, said she left her team in Turkey earlier this year after the organization wanted her to write a letter denying she'd been engaged to her female partner.

The WNBA has no jurisdiction in the many leagues its players compete in outside of WNBA season. Still, by backing the Pride initiative, the WNBA and president Laurel Richie are firmly supporting equality, respect and openness.

"And one day it won't even have to be a discussion," Delle Donne said. "It will just be normal, which is what it should be. Love is love."