Seimone Augustus, WNBA star, speaks out for gay marriage (original) (raw)

There is rarely a discussion of gay rights issues in the NBA, where it's still difficult to imagine an openly gay athlete. That's not the case in the WNBA.

Minnesota Lynx star Seimone Augustus is a WNBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and outspoken lesbian. She recently took a stand against a ballot measure in Minnesota that could ban same-sex marriage in the state constitution.

"Everyone thinks that the WNBA is one big lesbo party anyway," she said in an interview with the Associated Press. "So I think the coming out process isn't as tough for us because people already expect it."

But Augustus understands that NBA players would receive more scrutiny from the media and fans.

The LSU alumna and former two-time Wooden Award winner as the top college player in the country is planning to a wedding to her partner LaTaya Varner, but a Minnesota wedding could be in jeopardy.

Understandably, Augustus wants to be married in Minnesota where she now lives and where Varner is from. She helped bring the state a championship last year, and her Lynx are in the WNBA Finals right now against the Indiana Fever.

"I'm hoping that it passes 'cause then we're able to have a nice wedding here and actually be able to legally do it here instead of having to go a few hours away to Iowa or somewhere like that to have it done," Augustus said. "You want to be able to do it in a city that, for one, has embraced me and been like my second home and is her home -- this is where she's from — to be able to share a special moment in Minnesota history."