Posted on June 18, 2024

Cameron Brink Acknowledges Having White Privilege in the WNBA

Grant Young, Heavy, June 14, 2024

WNBA rookie Cameron Brink spoke out about white players experiencing privilege in women’s basketball in a June 5 article from Dime Magazine.

“I will acknowledge there’s a privilege for the younger white players of the league,” Brink said. “That’s not always true, but there is a privilege that we have inherently, and the privilege of appearing feminine.”

Brink also addressed gender equality in the interview.

“Some of my teammates are more masculine. Some of my teammates go by they/them pronouns. I want to bring more acceptance to that and not just have people support us because of the way that we look.”

The Los Angeles Sparks rookie added that, “I know I can feed into that because I like to dress femininely, but that’s just me. I want everyone to be accepted — not just paid attention to because of how they look.”

One of Brink’s teammates on the Sparks is Layshia Clarendon. According to Forbes, Clarendon is the first openly non-binary WNBA player. They are also the first active WNBA player to have top surgery. Clarendon’s Instagram profile lists their pronouns as he/they/she.

On June 13, Clarendon posted two Instagram stories applauding Brink for her message.

“That’s my teammate and I’m proud of her 🫶🏾,” Clarendon wrote, along with an excerpt from Brink’s Dime Magazine interview.

A subsequent Instagram story from Clarendon wrote, “And she loves me 🙋🏾‍♂️✨,” referring to Brink.

“yes I DO 🫶🏻❤️,” Brink responded on her own Instagram story.

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