Layshia Clarendon was the ninth overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft and has since become an All-Star, a world champion, and the vice president of the WNBA Players' Association. She's currently a point guard with the New York Liberty and an advocate for intersectional social justice.
"So many of us have had to overcome being told to hide who we are by people we loved and respected," she told Athletes For Hope in 2019. "Being a queer person still puts you at risk for violence, harassment, and bullying. It's still difficult to navigate workplaces, religious spaces, and to find community. As a queer black woman, I live at the intersections of being a woman, being black and being gay . . . If we want to be activists, social justice oriented, good allies or even just good people, we MUST make sure we approach the work through an intersectional lens. It's why we have to show up for each other and especially for the folks who live on the margins of society."
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