Brittney Griner is not transgender. She is a cisgender woman who identifies as a woman and is openly gay.
Online rumors about her gender identity have circulated for years, but they are false and have been debunked by fact-checkers and Griner herself.
Who is Brittney Griner?
Brittney Griner is one of the most accomplished athletes in WNBA history.
Born on October 18, 1990, in Houston, Texas, she stands 6 feet 9 inches tall and built her reputation as a dominant center with remarkable shot-blocking ability.
The Phoenix Mercury selected her with the first overall pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft.
She spent 11 seasons in Phoenix, where she won a WNBA championship in 2014, earned ten All-Star selections, and won two Defensive Player of the Year awards. She also represented the United States in multiple Olympic Games, winning gold medals.
Her career took a painful detour in 2022. Russian authorities detained her at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after discovering cannabis oil cartridges in her luggage.
She spent nearly ten months in Russian custody before the U.S. government secured her release in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022.
Is Brittney Griner Transgender?
No. Brittney Griner is not transgender. She was born female and identifies as a woman. She is a lesbian, not a transgender person. These are two different things entirely.
The rumors stem largely from her physical appearance. At 6 feet 9 inches, Griner is taller than most men and has an athletic frame built for elite basketball. Online speculation has used her height and build to falsely claim she was born male.
Griner has spoken openly about the bullying she faced over this exact issue. In a 2015 ESPN Magazine interview, she described being called a boy at school because of how she looked.
She wrote about the pain of feeling like an outcast in her 2015 book, “In My Skin: My Life On and Off the Basketball Court.” These are not the words of someone hiding a secret identity.
They are the words of a woman who has spent her entire life being misjudged because of her body.
PolitiFact, a well-known fact-checking outlet, rated the claim that Griner is a man as “Pants on Fire,” its lowest rating reserved for the most egregiously false claims.
There is no credible evidence, verified reporting, or statement from Griner herself that supports the transgender claim. The rumor is false.
Brittney Griner Personal Life
Griner is openly gay and has never hidden her sexuality. She came out publicly in 2013, shortly after being drafted. She has been married to Cherelle Watson, known publicly as Cherelle Griner, since 2019.
The couple welcomed their first child together in 2024, a son named Bash.
In interviews before the birth, Griner shared that she preferred her child call her “pops,” a personal parenting choice that some online commentators distorted to fuel further speculation about her gender identity.
The preference is simply how she wanted to be addressed as a parent, not a statement about her gender.
Griner has also been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She has spoken in favor of allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports. In 2023, she called it “a crime” to exclude anyone from sports because of who they are.
Her advocacy for transgender athletes does not make her transgender herself.
Where is Brittney Griner Now?
As of 2025, Griner plays for the Atlanta Dream. She left the Phoenix Mercury in free agency ahead of the 2025 WNBA season, ending an 11-year run with the only team she had ever played for.
The move marked the first time in her professional career that she changed teams.
The Dream finished the 2025 regular season with a franchise-best 30 wins and entered the WNBA playoffs as one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. Griner contributed throughout the year, bringing veteran leadership and playoff experience to a young Atlanta roster.
At 34 years old, she remains active and continues to compete at a professional level.
Summary
Brittney Griner is not transgender. She is a cisgender woman, an openly gay athlete, and one of the greatest players in WNBA history. The rumors about her gender identity are false, rooted in outdated assumptions about how women are supposed to look.
Griner has addressed the bullying she has faced over her appearance for years. The facts are clear and well-documented.