With the 2025 WNBA season in full swing, team rosters are pretty much set.

With that in mind, we wanted to look into answering a somewhat controversial question that many have regarding the WNBA — that question being what percentage of the players identify as gay or lesbian?

Though that question is often asked (for both good and bad reasons) it hasn’t been answered with any authority. Without any reliable data has led to a lot of misinformation, wild speculation, assumptions off unreliable data thus perpetuating damaging stereotypes that keeps the league down.

Most of the ignorant comments from online commenters that are clearly proud in verbalizing their lack respect for women athletes. Especially for those women athletes that don’t look, dress or present as they expect them to. And because they’re not able to sexualize them and are threatened by strong, athletic, even masculine women, they react angrily out of discomfort and fear and that manifests in deprecating homophobic, racist and misogynistic jokes about WNBA players.

There’s this prevailing perception that the WNBA is all lesbians and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it paints the league into a corner. Our goal is to provide data the best we can that provides some foundation for those that are ready to have real conversations about why these stereotypes exist, breaking stereotypes and gender expectations as well as discussing the ingrained prejudices we have against women, Black women, and all women that identify as LGBTQ in professional sports.

What Percentage of WNBA Players Are Gay?

As far as percentages go, we’ve done the math and in the 2022 WNBA season, 28.7% of the league identified as LGBTQ. In a 2019 study looking at athletic performance based on sexual orientation, researchers found that approximately 38% of WNBA players at the time identified as lesbian. While our 2022 estimate is slightly lower, it still represents one of the highest publicly known percentages of LGBTQ representation in professional sports. These numbers reflect both the league’s inclusive culture and the growing comfort players have in sharing their identities publicly.

Here’s how we got to that percentage in 2022 (similar to how the 2019 study got to their number).

After conducting extensive research on WNBA players who have publicly shared their LGBTQIA+ identity, we compiled a list of active and retired athletes who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or otherwise. For both our 2022 and 2025 count, we focused solely on players actively listed on WNBA rosters that season. The key question: how many of those 144 athletes openly identified as part of the LGBTQIA+ community? Using interviews, public statements, media coverage, and players’ verified social media accounts, we identified dozens of openly queer players active during that season.

In our 2022 research, there were 12 WNBA teams and a league-imposed limit of 12 players per roster, that gives the WNBA just 144 available roster spots – putting a squeeze on every available roster slot. As of the start of the 2025 season (with big shout out to The Fruit Slice) we were able to identify 48 of the 156 available WNBA roster spots were held by players who publicly identify as LGBTQIA+ that’s approximately 30.8% of the league.

The list above names off 41 active WNBA players that consider themselves gay, lesbian, or queer. Those forty-one out players equal 28.7% of all active WNBA players. With nearly 29% of the league, that’s way more than a quarter of the WNBA. The 2019 study we mentioned above  “coded” 58 players as lesbian and 44 as straight.

It’s worth saying again that in both cases, the numbers represent players that are publicly out meaning that the percentage of gay and lesbian WNBA players is likely higher because any attempt at exacting how many gay and lesbian players there in the WNBA is directly impacted by the negative affects that coming out at work can have on that person personally and professionally.

‘Wagering on the WNBA requires understanding key differences from men’s leagues’, declare professional wagering analysts. ‘Lower-scoring games see tighter point spreads. Unders on game totals are more common. Player absences sway odds more given smaller rosters overall’. Analysts recommend reviewing injury reports diligently. Individual stars like A’ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart can single-handedly cover spreads if playing. But defence and rebounds are critical. So comparing team strengths and weaknesses before betting spreads is always critical for the bet’s success. Be sure to look for scheduling advantages with travel fatigue or back-to-back games as well and study how teams performed against each other recently when wagering. While betting markets.

For many of the players coming out as gay, lesbian, queer, trans or non-binary not only open yourself up to being discriminated against off the court, but may have a direct impact on how many minutes you play, whether you make the Olympic team, potential endorsements, post-playing career opportunities, and a host of other issues.

Another way to ask the question is what percentage of WNBA players are “straight”? Well we don’t know the exact number but there are plenty of heterosexual women playing in the WNBA including all-stars A’Ja Wilson, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Kelsey Plum, Derica Hamby and Sabrina Ionescu. Maya Moore and Napheesa Collier just gave birth with their husbands. Other players on this list is Liz Cambage, Natalie Achonwa, Tianna Hawkins, Rachel Banham, Bria Hartley, Te’a Cooper, DiJonai Carrington, Aari McDonald and many others.

We mention this only because it highlights that most don’t ask which players are “straight” because that’s the norm. That’s what we assume until something different is noticed. That difference isn’t an issue in itself. It only becomes a problem when that difference is used to discriminate.