Congratulations, Sheryl!

Swoopes came out of the closet to ESPN The Magazine. Although she is not the first WNBA player to come out, she is certainly the most high profile player to do so. Swoopes is a three time MVP and three time Olympic gold medal winner, and arguably the best female basketball player in history

Although Swoopes said she did not come out of the closet to be some sort of hero, she will be. There are thousands of young girls who pretend, like she did, to be something they are not. Having such a high profile role model may help them to come to terms with who they are, and make society (especially African Americans) more tolerant of gays and lesbians.