Brittney Griner, one of the most successful women’s basketball players in the US, is stuck in Russia for possession of medical marijuana. In February 2022, Griner came to Russia to play in the Russian Premier League during the WNBA off-season. Russian Customs detained her after finding cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.
Griner pleaded guilty when his trial began on July 1. In Russia, a case still proceeds to trial even after a guilty plea.
The case has gained a lot of attention as Griner’s family and famous sports personalities petitioned the US government to secure his release. Griner’s arrest couldn’t have come at a worse time, as tensions between the US and Russia are at their highest since the Cold War.
Griner was bullied when she was younger because of her physique
Britney Griner was born on October 18, 1990 to Raymond and Sandra Griner in Houston, Texas. She grew up with three older brothers: DeCarlo, Shekera, and Pier.
Ray was a military veteran who served in Vietnam and became a Harris County Sheriff. britney said ESPN he enjoyed watching military movies with his father and farming with Sandra.
Griner was bigger than most of his peers when he started school. Her youthful physique and her low voice harassed her, which seriously affected her confidence. Griner told him ESPN:
“I never wanted to talk in class. I didn’t want to listen to myself; He hated the way it sounded. I couldn’t listen. They made fun of me for everything, my different voice, my height, my chest. I’ve always had a flat chest.”
Brittney took her frustrations out on the volleyball court, dunking the ball with all the aggression she could muster. Griner, who doesn’t give up, got himself in trouble for lashing out and fighting. Griner told him ESPN that he regrets the moments in which he did not defend himself.
In ninth grade, Griner decided to embrace her identity through fashion. She said mother jones:
“I would say ninth grade, when I started wearing the clothes that I wanted to wear. I was so tired of living a lie, dressing a certain way. When you go to high school, you definitely feel like you’re an adult, and I wanted to be true to myself.”
Griner felt free in youth clothing. “I thought, ‘Man, this would have been so easy if he’d done it earlier,'” he said. Brittany’s fashion choices caused some hilarious confusion with her parents. She explained:
“I remember my mom would do my laundry and my dad would say, ‘Whose are these boxers?’ And I said: ‘They are mine’ [raises hand slowly]. I’ve always been totally outside, just on one limb.”
Griner’s father reacted angrily when Brittany came out as gay
The next step in Brittany’s embrace of her identity involved coming out to her parents. “I’m not going to raise any gay girls,” Ray protested. He forbade the high school student to invite friends over to the house to hang out.
Having inherited Ray’s stubbornness, Griner and his father fought regularly. They clashed over trivial things, with the root of Ray’s frustration being Griner’s sexuality.
Eventually, Griner left home to live with Nimitz’s junior varsity basketball coach. She relied on her mother and her siblings, who had accepted her sexuality, for support. Ray realized it when he saw that her sexuality didn’t get in the way of her basketball prowess. She said:
“It was a process. I think part of why he has improved is because I have done very well with the ball”.
“Brittney wants people to accept her for who she is,” Ray said. ESPN. “I understand now”.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn