Great op-ed in the Chronicle:
When the WNBA debuted 30 years ago, I had just graduated from high school in New York City and checked out a New York Liberty game at Madison Square Garden. The excitement for the Liberty and for the league was palpable. Finally, women were going to have their own platform to show their skills on the basketball court.
The game that night was a thrill, but in an important way, the environment still felt stifling and oppressive. Simply put, it was clear back then that it was not OK for the players to be out and gay in the WNBA. The vibe was: keep your authentic self hidden, and don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t show.
Through the lesbian grapevine, I learned when someone was gay or dating someone in the WNBA, but it was still on the down low. As a young lesbian, it felt sad that players were pushed to hide their sexual identity lest they risk losing their livelihood, career, endorsements and brand reputation.
After college, I moved to San Francisco, and, three decades later, I am happily married to my wonderful wife, and we have two fabulous sons. This is our second season as Golden State Valkyries season ticket holders, and we are incredibly excited to see our adopted hometown team play the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA Finalsstarting Saturday.
In just two years since its inception, the Valkyries franchise is now worth over $1 billion, and the team’s fan base continues to grow. There are so many things to love about this team. Compared to other WNBA teams, the Valkyries aren’t built around star players. Coach Natalie Nakase’s strategy makes for a better game, a better team and more interesting plays because every Valkyries player has their own unique superpower. It’s like watching the Marvel Universe rather than a one-star superhero comic. The team’s value comes from the combination of different skills working collectively together with a deep bench rather than focusing on a single star delivering over and over.
The Valkyries have once again sold out all of their home games this year, and their 32-12 regular-season record was the league’s second-best. Besides being great athletes with different talents, human authenticity is key to what connects fans with the Valkyries.
“They want us to be powerful and unapologetic,” team President Jess Smith said about the team’s supporters earlier this year. And they are.
The vibe at “Ballhalla” is magical, created organically by fans, many of whom, like some of the players, are unapologetically queer. By far, that has been the most outstanding and awesome thing I’ve noticed when rooting for the Valkyries. At every home game, the “Lavender Lesbian” mafia comes out to cheer their team. The capacity crowd of 18,000-plus at Ballhalla is wonderfully diverse, super positive and high-energy, creating an electricity unlike any other sporting event in the Bay Area. I’ve overheard parents talking about how their sons and daughters feel watching games with these women heroes and just how inspiring and fun it is.
The team also reflects the culture and values of the Bay Area. Coach Nakase is the first Japanese American WNBA coach, and Kaitlyn Chen is the first player of Taiwanese descent. In my experience, San Francisco fans really appreciate their unique representation in the league. Some players are also unapologetically gay, which feels very welcome and needed, in particular now when LGBTQ+ freedom and liberty are under attack. On Pride Night in June, after scoring 13 fourth-quarter points to lead the team to a 78-75 victory, forward Gabby Williams unapologetically declared that the win was “for the gays!” As a team that represents the “Gay Area” to the world, I could not help but beam with pride.
In contrast, the San Francisco Giants on their Pride Night allowed players to show hostility and denigrate queer people as unworthy of respect. That behavior was a disgusting embarrassment and did not represent our city’s values. Queer San Franciscans are a vibrant and critical part of our city. Queerness is something that makes San Francisco great. It is a beacon of acceptance to the rest of the world. Here we show personal character and civic integrity by treating other people with the dignity and respect that all deserve. The Giants management need look no further than Ballhalla if it needs to figure out how to treat LGBTQ people...
