Queer parents have been making headlines in sports lately! Let’s take a look at what’s been happening on and off the field, with a baby announcement from soccer stars, first-ever public baby photos from a basketball star, a new podcast on parenting and sports, and more.
- First, congratulations and best wishes to soccer (football) stars Sam Kerr (Australia) and Kristie Mewis (U.S.), who are expecting their first child.
- Brittney and Cherelle Griner, who welcomed their first child earlier this year, posted Instagram photos of themselves with baby Bash for the first time.
- PWHL hockey player Madison Packer announced her retirement after 9 years as a pioneer of women’s professional hockey. She played for the New York/Metropolitan Riveters in the now-defunct NWHL/PHF, including four years as captain, and was second in all-time points. Last year, she played for the New York Sirens of the newly formed PWHL. She and her spouse Anya Packer (who was also a professional hockey player and manager) have also launched a great new podcast, Moms Who Puck, in which they talk sports, parenting, being a parent in sports, being a queer parent, and much more. I highly recommend it!
- The new Unrivaled 3×3 basketball league (co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier) has announced its 2025 rosters, which include queer parents Breanna Stewart, Britney Griner, Chelsea Gray, and Alyssa Thomas, among lots of other top talent. (Thomas is engaged to Connecticut Sun teammate DeWanna Bonner, who has two children with former Mercury teammate and former spouse Candice Dupree. I don’t know if Thomas considers herself a stepparent or otherwise, but it felt wrong to omit her here.)
- Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, is “still in the thought process” about whether to retire after 20 seasons, per ESPN.
- Candace Parker, who did retire last year, joked about expectations for her son, Airr, suggesting the two-year-old might be teammates with LeBron James one day (which arguably puts as much pressure on the 39-year-old James as on Airr).
- Stephanie White became head coach of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever after leaving the Connecticut Sun.
- Melissa Etheridge (not an athlete, but a lesbian mom) sang the national anthem at the NWSL Championship game last Saturday.
- Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has announced she will play for the Blues, a New Zealand professional rugby union team that competes in the Super Rugby Women’s season. Her niece Kerri Johnson also plays for the team, and her wife Renee Woodman-Wickliffe played for them last season, per a statement from the Black Ferns, the national women’s team.
- British diver Tom Daley may have retired from competition, but he recently held an exhibition of some of his many knitted creations.
- And while Marta, arguably the best women’s soccer player in the world, is not (yet?) a parent, she is queer, and it was a delight seeing her own mother for the first time watch her play (and win!) in the United States, during the NWSL Championship game.
