38 Gay WNBA Players to Follow (And Thirst After) on Instagram This Season

The 2024 WNBA Season is officially here, and if you’ve felt like the 2024 season has come with a little more fanfare than usual, you’re absolutely right. In fact, this year’s season opener between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun drew over two million viewers on ESPN2 (!!), making it the most watched WNBA game ever in ESPN history. It even drew more viewers than the NHL playoffs. Even the WNBA pre-game show was up a whooping 126% this year!! Yes, the W is hitting the mainstream, but you might be wondering — who are all the gay WNBA players, anyway? What percent of the WNBA is gay? And more importantly, where do I find them online? My friends, I have you covered.

When Autostraddle first published this list, we had 15 out players. But my, how the time flies! As of June 28, 2024 there are at least 38 out gay players in the WNBA! That makes up a quarter of the league! And yes, we could wax nostalgic about how great it is that the W and society at large has come such a long way for players to not only be comfortable in their gay skin, but be celebrated for it. And seriously, that is great. But I’m going to keep it 100 with you! I first started getting into the W because someone finally sat me down and showed me how insanely hot these players are. So I’m going to cut right to the chase and pay it forward.

Here is every out gay WNBA player that I could find, and the hottest picture of them available on their Instagram… for reasons. We’re all grown here. Enjoy. And if you know of more (confirmed!) openly gay WNBA players, drop them in the comments.

* Many of these players are partnered, engaged, married, with babies on the way. So! To any actual WNBA wife (unlike me, a purely fantasy WNBA wife) who happens upon this post, please know that we come to thirst in peace! It’s a sign of your excellent taste, presented with nothing but honor and respect upon your household.

* This post has been updated as of 6/28/24 to reflect all the final team rosters for 2024 WNBA season.

37 Gay WNBA Players to Follow (And Thirst After) on Instagram This Season

Aerial Powers, Atlanta Dream

Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun

Congratulations to Alyssa Thomas, who got engaged to her Connecticut Sun teammate DeWanna Bonner last summer!

Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings

Arike Ogunbowale got engaged by proposing to her girlfriend in a backyard full of rose petals! A romantic at her core!

Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty

Breanna and her wife welcomed a new baby this winter.

Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury

DID YOU HEAR THAT BABY BG IS ON THE WAY!?!? Incredible congrats to Brittney and Cherelle!

Brittney Sykes, Washington Mystics

Cecilia Zandalasini, Minnesota Lynx

Chelsea Gray, Las Vegas Aces

Chelsea Gray and her wife welcomed their new baby this past winter. The WNBA baby boom is in full effect.

Courtney Vandersloot, New York Liberty

Courtney Williams, Minnesota Lynx

Crystal Dangerfield, Atlanta Dream

@crystaldangerfield2

Good pump #fyp #gym #fitness #gymtok #athlete

♬ Turn Yo Love Up Future – JAYBeatz

In between the last update of this list and the current one, Crystal Dangerfield removed her Instagram. But I didn’t want her (or you!) to miss out on all the gay fun — so here she is on TikTok!

DeWanna Bonner, Connecticut Sun

As mentioned already, DeWanna is engaged to Alyssa Thomas (who’s also on this list).

Diana Taurasi, Phoenix Mercury

DiJonai Carrington, Connecticut Sun

Dyaisha Fair, Las Vegas Aces

Emily Engstler, Washington Mystics

Emma Cannon, Las Vegas Aces

Erica Wheeler, Indiana Fever

Jewell Loyd, Seattle Storm

Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty

Jonquel got engaged last summer! And the photos are to die for.

Jordan Horston, Seattle Storm

Jordin Canada, Atlanta Dream

Kahleah Copper, Phoenix Mercurcy

Kahleah also got engaged over the fall.

Kate Martin, Las Vegas Aces

Kayla McBride, Minnesota Lynx

Kierstan Bell, Las Vegas Aces

Layshia Clarendon, Los Angeles Sparks

NaLyssa Smith, Indiana Fever

Natasha Cloud, Phoenix Mercury

Natasha Howard, Dallas Wings

Natasha Mack, Phoenix Mercury

Natisha Hiedeman, Minnesota Lynx

Sami Whitcomb, Seattle Storm

Sevgi Uzun, Dallas Wings

Stefanie Dolson, Washington Mystics

Sug Sutton, Phoenix Mercury

Sydney Colson, Las Vegas Aces

Sydney Colson is in a bathing suit and baseball cap on her instagram. The caption reads: "The ocean ain't the only thing that's fishy" and many different WNBA players are joking with Syd in the comments below.

Sydney’s Instagram won’t embed into the post, so please enjoy this screenshot. But also follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok not just for the thirst, but for the jokes. Syd’s got one of the WNBA’s biggest personalities and she’s unapologetically gay. They don’t call her “the face of the league” for nothing!! (PS: You can read my interview with her for Autostraddle right here.)

Victoria Vivians, Seattle Storm

While assembling research and crunching numbers for this post, I learned some other fun facts that you might enjoy! Such as:

Which WNBA Team Has the Most Gay Players?

The Phoenix Mercury is the WNBA team with the most gay players, in 2024 there will be six gay WNBA players suiting up in Phoenix. The Las Vegas Aces will have five gay players, leaving them in second place (a ranking that the back-to-back WNBA champs are not used to having). The Chicago Sky is statistically the most straight team, with no out gay players that I could find. As of right now, The Los Angeles Sparks have only one out gay player.

Are There Any Trans or Nonbinary WNBA Players?

Yes, Layshia Clarendon of the LA Sparks is nonbinary!

What Percentage of the WNBA Is Gay?

As of right now, there are 37 out gay players in the WNBA for the 2024 season. That means roughly 25% of the WNBA is gay (37/141 total current players for the 2024 season, then divide and multiply by 100. You understand how statistics work). This would be right on track with the last two seasons. Research in 2022 found that 20% of the league was gay, and our reporting last year also had the league at about 25% gay. Three players from last year’s list — Candace Parker, Tiffany Hayes and Jasmine Thomas — retired after last season. A small handful of others just didn’t any find roster spots this year. But on the flip side, new gays also joined the ranks! Arike Ogunbowale got engaged, thus landing her on this list! And at least one player, Kayla McBride, had been gay this whole time, but we’d previously missed her 2019 Nike Pride ad until now. Gays! They are everywhere!

WNBA 101

If you’re like me and came to this post for the thirst, but are new to the league and would like to learn more — let me close us out by saying, I have a post for that too and you might enjoy it: WNBA 101: Everything You Need to Know About the Gayest Sports League 🧡

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Carmen Phillips

Carmen Phillips is Autostraddle's former editor in chief. She began at Autostraddle in 2017 as a freelance team writer and worked her way up through the company, eventually becoming the EIC from 2021-2024. A Black Puerto Rican feminist writer with a PhD in American Studies from New York University, Carmen specializes in writing about Blackness, race, queerness, politics, culture, and the many ways we find community and connection with each other.  During her time at Autostraddle, Carmen focused on pop culture, TV and film reviews, criticism, interviews, and news analysis. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. And there were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. To reach out, you can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram, or her website.

Carmen has written 716 articles for us.

28 Comments

  4. Candace Parker being on this list still feels surreal even though it’s been official for a couple years now! I love her response to Syd Colson’s post lol. Thank you Carmen for putting this together, I’ve really appreciated the NCAA and WNBA coverage on here lately!

    Reply to This Comment

  6. This is truly an excellent post, and I love to see so much representation here! The amount of hot athleticism and hot hotness is just…yes yes yes!

    I also wanted to out that there are a minimum of 21 out / queer players on the 6 teams of the PWHL (based on a quick google search) — can we get some three sport action up here?! Sports!

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    • I am sorry to be the one who has to tell you this, but she’ll be sitting out this season unfortunately. I don’t think she’s decided on a permanent retirement tho, just some contract things with the Mystics, so we should hopefully see her again next season!

      Reply to This Comment

  8. Thanks for this great recap! I miss Sue Bird :(
    Jewell Loyd is out ?!? When did she come out ? I’ve been reading the Autostraddles lists of wnba gay players these past years and I missed this info ? (I’m a Storm fan)

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