WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes comes out: 'I'm tired of having to pretend'

[MaineDem]

NEW YORK, Oct. 26 — Houston Comets forward Sheryl Swoopes is opening up about being a homosexual, telling a magazine that she's ''tired of having to hide my feelings about the person I care about.''

Swoopes, honored last month as the WNBA's Most Valuable Player, told ESPN The Magazine for a story on newsstands Wednesday that she didn't always know she was gay and fears that coming out could jeopardize her status as a role model.

''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.''

Swoopes, who was married and has an 8-year-old son, said that being with a man was what she wanted at the time. But her 1999 divorce ''wasn't because I'm gay,'' she said.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusspt/ap10-26-030024.asp?spt=bkw&vts=102620050701

I'm not quite sure what to make of this.

[joeybee12]

1. I agree...without reading the whole thing, her comments her don't

seem all that intelligent...i.e., saying she wasn't born that way and her divorce wasn't because she was gay. Maybe she's still trying to figure it all out, and is still confused. Anyway, it is a brave thing to do...she'll catch hell from a lot of people over this.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Her comments don't seem "intelligent?" nt

[joeybee12]

5. Because yes, she was born that way...all the evidence points to

that...saying she wasn't born that way isn't intelligent, no other way to put it.

[Captain Hilts]

6. There's no definitive evidence that there's only one path.

If there were definitive proof that all homosexuals are biologically preordained, then she would be 'ignorant' not 'unintelligent'.

[joeybee12]

7. First of all, I said her comments were unintelligent, not that she was...

...that's a big difference.

As for your comments that there is not one path--give me a break--that's the argument right wing nuts have made...that it's a choice. There is substantial evidence it is biologically predetermined. No evidence to the contrary--like to know where you get your information.

[northzax]

8. actually, the great majority of the evidence I have seen

shows that there is a continuum among the human population, and that most people fall somewhere between purely heterosexual and purely homosexual. I really think that for a lot of people, it all depends on who you fall in love with, it seems this is especially common among women, I have several female friends who have had relationships with both men and women, it's not that uncommon to change where you are more comfortable along your lifespan, depending on the people in question. Maybe she never felt attracted to women until she met the right one?

[bmbmd]

3. She left UT

to go to Texas Tech after being hit upon by women.

[Mojambo]

4. Either way, good for her

You just know there are some stuffed shirt men running the WNBA that are not too keen on this one.