Written by:
Gretchen Lee
Photographer:
Candace Means
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Vol. 12 #6
The Great Big Coming-Out Story You Almost Never Heard About
If you’d blinked, you might have missed this story’s beginnings entirely.
Earlier this summer, when “Time Out New York” reporter Bilge Ebiri interviewed Sue Wicks, forward for the New York Liberty, he perhaps didn’t know he would soon be sitting on a bombshell. Though most of Ebiri’s interview published in the May 30–June 6, 2002, issue of the entertainment-oriented magazine would focus on issues specific to basketball (role models, pay scales, and the politics of trading players within the league), Ebiri startled many readers when he asked Wicks near the end of their conversation: “Are you a lesbian?”
Though she’d previously demurred when other reporters had skirted around the issue, Wicks’ reply to the direct question was refreshingly honest: “I am,” she said. “Usually I don’t like to answer those kinds of questions, because you worry the issue might become so much bigger than the sport. As an athlete, it’s a little annoying when that becomes the point of interest. But I would never avoid that question, especially in New York. I think it’s important that if you are gay, you not be afraid to say who you are.”
And so, with that simple admission, Sue Wicks took an important place in history. She became the first player in the entire WNBA to come out as lesbian.
You’d think it would be a big deal. You might even expect that the story would be picked up immediately by other news organizations.
After all, when Martina Navratilova disclosed 20 years ago that she and novelist Rita Mae Brown were indeed a couple, it was front-page news all around the world. Heck, even three years ago, when Amélie Mauresmo came out as lesbian, photographers were tripping over themselves just to snap a photo of the up-and-coming tennis star with her girlfriend at the Australian Open. And when pro football player Alissa Wykes, fullback for the Philadelphia Liberty Belles, came out simultaneously in interviews with Curve and “Sports Illustrated for Women” last December, the press was all too eager to cover the chastisement she received from Women’s National Football League owner Catherine Masters.
But what happened after Wicks came out puzzled nearly everyone. Wicks’ simple announcement was met initially with, well, almost no response at all.
Who’s News, Anyway?
Have we really come such a long way, baby, that it doesn’t matter when one of us says, “Me, too” in response to the lesbian question?
Not likely. Coming out, especially if you’re an athlete at the top of your game, like Wicks, “is still going to be a courageous act for probably the next 10 years,” says Helen Carroll, Homophobia in Sports coordinator for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and a former athletic director for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Yet an entire month would go by before any other publication picked up on Wicks’ coming out. Finally, in her July 7, 2002, article for the “New York Times”, reporter Lena Williams pointed out the ironic contrast between Wicks’ self-disclosed confirmation of her lesbianism and New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza’s much-ballyhooed May 2002 press conference, at which he asserted he is not a homosexual, despite rumors to the contrary. “Piazza’s denial made headlines and was reported on the nightly news broadcasts,” Williams wrote. “Wicks’ affirmation received scant notice.”
Williams believes the story wasn’t picked up sooner partly because it first appeared in a publication geared toward the under-30 set. “The mainstream being dominated by baby boomers, we missed it,” she says. “I lucked out,” Williams adds, explaining that a colleague had seen the “Time Out New York” interview and told her about it.
But it’s not just lack of timely access to information that buried this story. It’s a well-known fact that most mainstream publications give short shrift to women’s sports. And clearly, this bias also contributed to the lukewarm response given to the Wicks story.
“I think that it’s sort of a double whammy,” says Cathy Renna, news media director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). “The sexism that’s rampant in women’s sports in general is only exacerbated by a lack of interest in talking about stereotypes of lesbians and homophobia in women’s sports.
In other words, when women play sports, they’re assumed to be gay. When men play, they’re assumed to be straight. So, in a larger sense, it’s not a surprise and may not even be considered “news” when women come out. That’s the theory, at least.
“In the end, whether it’s men’s or women’s sports, it’s all about sexism,” Renna explains. In a particularly telling twist, Williams’ account of the Wicks coming-out story was even bumped from the New York metro edition of the “Times”. The day it was to have run, the (male) New Jersey Devils hockey team made a trade — and that apparently was deemed more newsworthy for the paper’s Manhattan and Brooklyn readership than a story about women’s sports. No matter that this was a hometown girl at the center of a controversy. Consequently, the Wicks story ran only in certain regional versions and on the “New York Times” Web site.
Sounds of Silence
It also didn’t help matters that Wicks turned down all personal interviews after coming out to “Time Out New York”, refusing even to do an interview with the “New York Times” on the subject. (She declined Curve's request for an interview as well.)
“I’m not too surprised that she clammed up,” says Cyd Zeigler, president of Outsports.com. “She thought she was telling a small local paper that she was gay, and she was really telling the whole country. And she might not have been prepared for that.”
Brooke Lawer, spokesperson for the New York Liberty, insists that Wicks is not trying to hide anything by refusing personal interview requests. “At this point, Sue is focusing on the season and improving her game, so is not doing personal interviews,” Lawer says. “Sue is a perpetual crowd favorite, and reaches out to all New York fans. She has always been open about all facets of her personality, and is accessible to her fans both on the court and in the community. As anybody who knows Sue or is familiar with the team [knows], her comments in “Time Out New York” were in no way a new announcement, but included as part of an overall personality profile.”
Still, others wonder whether the league would rather not be bothered by lesbian-tinged stories. “The league is still smarting from the stories that ran last year about outreach some of the teams had done to reach more lesbian fans,” Renna says, adding that she hopes the league has not been shushing Wicks.
“We’re supportive of our players,” says Maureen Coyle, senior director of WNBA communications. Coyle was PR director for the New York Liberty in the first three years of the team’s existence, and knows Wicks personally. “She’s not going to lie to a direct question,” Coyle adds
However, aside from Coyle representing the league at the national level and Lawer speaking for the New York Liberty, none of the players or representatives for other WNBA teams would comment to Curve on the record for this story. “I contacted some of our players who know Sue,” one team publicist told us. “The general feeling was that whatever Sue does in her personal life is up to her. But it does take the focus off of basketball when you talk about your personal life.”
Wicks gets sympathy and a thumbs-up from pro football player Alissa Wykes, who, until Wicks’ announcement, was the most recent newcomer in a small cadre of out lesbian athletes. “Consciously, I knew that [my] coming out was going to be a big deal,” she says. “I knew I was making a social statement, but it turned out to be a bigger social statement than I thought it would be.”
Even so, Wykes says coming out was the right thing to do, despite the ways it could affect her career or the young league she plays in. “I remember reading something that Martina said after she came out,” Wykes recalls. “For her, it was such a big risk. She lost sponsorship, money. And still, she said she felt so relieved about it. … I really agree with Martina … it’s really the best thing I did in my life.”
“This is not just about Sue Wicks,” Renna says definitively. “Whether it’s Rosie O’Donnell or Ellen DeGeneres or Sue Wicks, many celebrities are surprised at the media attention that coming out garners. We’ve seen it time and time again with celebrities who are suddenly thrust into the public eye and say, ‘Oh, my. I don’t want to be a role model.’ But we, as a community, are so starved for role models.
“Almost every celebrity I’ve talked with who has come out says it’s a double-edged sword,” Renna adds. “With coming out comes some responsibility and, hopefully, some reward. … One of the positive effects is that she puts a face on the lesbian community for the fans. We know there are a lot of lesbian fans in the stands. And even though it’s 2002, we don’t have the kind of public role models that we should.”
Not only that, but Wicks could also be a role model for many young women — whether they be lesbian, bi or straight — who want to play basketball but feel constrained by homophobia.
“For me, it’s really two issues,” says Carroll. “One, setting role models for our LGBT youth who are going to be athletes and administrators in the sports world. … That they know they’ll be OK. And the second big item to me is that LGBT sports people should have personal freedom. … Freedom to be who you are in the world, not just in the van with your 12 teammates.”
The Bottom Line
Nearly everyone agrees that Wicks, who won the 2000 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award and was recently honored among her teammates for her community service, is a great role model — gay or straight. “She’s a really great player,” says Carroll. “And she’s got that golden attitude that makes other players play better when they’re around her.”
“She’s just about the perfect candidate for the WNBA,” agrees Zeigler “She’s in New York. She’s pretty. She’s well-liked. She’s good.”
So, now that she’s out, how’s it likely to affect her career?
“It will depend on how the fans react,” says Renna, noting that Wicks is a very popular player, especially among younger fans. Local high-school girls line up after their exhibition games for basketballs autographed by Wicks and other favorite players.
And the other players in the WNBA? How does her coming out affect those who may be itching to open their own closet doors?
“Hopefully, it will make it easier,” says Renna.
Zeigler is not so sure. “If Sue could say, ‘I’m OK,’ that could go a long way,” he says. Carroll, for one, says it’s clear that Wicks’ coming out, though it’s a first for the WNBA, won’t be the last. “There are going to be a lot more people coming out in the sports world,” she insists. “The tide has turned.”
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