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Americans in Russia

Brittney Griner

by Rebecca Oliver

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When you think of the two-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA All-star Brittney Griner, you probably think of a woman that grew up playing basketball from the moment she took her first steps. In her book, Brittney recalls wanting to join the military or become a police officer like her dad.[1] The first sports Brittney played were volleyball and soccer. It was not until the ninth grade that she began playing basketball.

Brittney Griner was born on October 18, 1990, in Houston, Texas. She started playing basketball at Nimitz High School by the end of her senior year she had a dunk record of fifty-two times in thirty-two games. [2] Standing at six foot eight inches at age seventeen she was every coach’s dream. With her height and newly founded talent Brittney could have played basketball for any college but in her book, she says she, “only had eyes for Baylor.” [3] Her achievements at Baylor, NCAA career record for blocked shots, three-time All-American, and two-time national Player of the Year[4] led to her being the WNBA’s number one draft pick in 2013. Since 2014 Brittney has played for the WNBA team the Phoenix Mercury. A long line of success continued for the basketball star after college most notably winning an Olympic gold medal in 2016 and 2020.

Brittney Griner had a difficult childhood. She was bullied for everything different about her, mainly her sexuality and height. Brittney recognized her sexuality at a young age, recalling having a crush on her best friend in elementary school. [5] The media claims she came out publicly as a lesbian in 2013. Brittney never hid her sexuality and was frustrated that the media never gave her a chance to tell her story.

Becoming a professional basketball player was not just about money for Brittney. She stated she looks forward to the freedom she would have to control her own life.[6]  The WNBA player’s freedom ran out on February 17^th, 2022, when she was arrested at an airport in Moscow, Russia for having hash vape cartridges in her bag. While marijuana is legal in Arizona, where Brittney resides, it is illegal in Russia. If convicted, she could face up to ten years in prison. Brittney was in Russia to play for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the off-season. This would have made her sixth stint playing for the team.

Brittney has yet to face trial in Russia because the court has extended her pre-trial detention for the third time. This has led to the speculation that Brittney Griner may be a political hostage. However, Russia denied her being classified as a hostage since she violated the law. [7] After over two months of silence the U.S. government declared Brittney wrongfully detained in a report with ESPN. [8] There have been confirmed talks between the United States and Russia about a prisoner exchange with Viktor Bout. The Russian businessman was sentenced to twenty-five years in 2012 for conspiracy to deliver weapons to a terrorist group. [9]

The LGBTQIA community has speculation of their own about the lengthy detainment of Brittney Griner. They believe that due to racism and anti-LGBT laws in Russia that Brittney’s race and sexuality play a factor in her sentencing. The law the community is referring to in their article is Russia’s gay propaganda law, passed by President Vladimir Putin in 2013. The law bans the “promotion of nontraditional sexual relations to minors”[10] on many platforms such as television, the internet, the press, and radio. Since the passing of this law violence has increased toward the LGBT citizens of Russia.

Regardless the reason for the delay in Brittney’s trial her family, friends, and fans have not given up on her. Organizations such as the Human Right Campaign, the National Organization for Women, National LGBTQ Task Force, and over forty other groups wrote a letter to President Biden and vice-president Harris urging them about the seriousness of Brittney’s detainment. Their pleads have been heard. On Friday, July 25, 2022, the House passed a bipartisan resolution asking the Russian government to immediately release Brittney.

The detainment of Brittney Griner came at a suspenseful time. Just a mere days before the Russia- Ukraine war started and with the imposition of many sanctions on Russia. Brittney’s wife Cherelle told an ESPN spokesperson, “I was terrified, what that meant. I thought that was it. Like, I’m really never gonna see her again.” [11] Cherelle Griner has not been in verbal communication with her wife since shortly after her arrest. Recently a phone call was scheduled for the two as it was the couple’s fourth anniversary. Unfortunately, the phone call was unsuccessful as no one was at the U.S. embassy to connect the call.

 

 

Please note at the time this webpage was written, July 26, 2022, Brittney Griner had yet to face trial in Russia leaving the outcome of the situation unknown. Further research on Brittney Griner after this date should result in the use of some new sources for the most current information. 

[1] Griner and Hovey, In My Skin: My Life on and off the Basketball Court, 28.

[2] Weinfuss, “2021 WNBA playoffs: Brittney Griner owns WNBA dunking record—and is coming for more.”

[3] Griner and Hovey, In My Skin: My Life on and off the Basketball Court, 53.

[4] Griner and Hovey, In My Skin: My Life on and off the Basketball Court, 6.

[5] Griner and Hovey, In My Skin: My Life on and off the Basketball Court, 24.

[6] Griner and Hovey, In My Skin: My Life on and off the Basketball Court, 4.

[7] TASS, “US basketball player Brittney Griner is not hostage, she violated the law – Kremlin spokesman.”

[8] Quinn, “U.S. reclassifies WNBA star Brittney Griner as ‘wrongfully detained’ by Russia.”

[9] TASS, “Exchange of Bout was ‘mentioned’ at US-Russia talks on prisoner swaps, says US ambassador.”

[10] Human Rights Watch, “No Support Russia’s “Gay Propaganda” Laws Imperils LGBT Youth.”

[11] ESPN, May 25, 2022, 7:22 PM, https://twitter.com/espn/status/1529619050208403465.

For Further Reading

Primary Sources

Feinberg, Doug. “Griner, Delle Donne and Diggins Dealt with Bullies.” SI.com WNBA, April 18, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130418202243/http:/sports.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/wnba/story.asp?i=20130418033644189929408.

Fuente, CNN, Homero De la. “US House Passes Bipartisan Resolution Calling for Brittney Griner’s Release – CNNPolitics.” CNN. www.cnn.com, June 25, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/25/politics/house-passes-bipartisan-resolution-brittney-griner-release/index.html.

Goldman, Tom. “Biden Faces Pressure to Help Get WNBA Star Brittney Griner Released from Russian Jail : NPR.” NPR.org. www.npr.org, June 23, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/06/23/1107151056/biden-faces-pressure-to-help-get-wnba-star-brittney-griner-released-from-russian.

Owens, Ernest. “Brittney Griner Is a Black Queer Woman. Here’s Why We Can’t Ignore Intersectionality in Russia’s Targeted Detainment of Her – TheGrio.” TheGrio. thegrio.com, March 8, 2022. https://thegrio.com/2022/03/08/brittney-griner-black-queer-woman-detained-russia/.

Quinn, T.J. “U.S. Now Considers Griner ‘Wrongfully Detained.’” ESPN.com. www.espn.com, May 3, 2022. https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/33846524/us-reclassifies-wnba-star-brittney-griner-wrongfully-detained-russia-sources-say.

 

Secondary Sources

http://www.globalequality.org/component/content/article/1-in-the-news/186-the-facts-on-lgbt-rights-in-russia, “The facts on LGBT Rights in Russia.” www.globalequality.org,  July 12, 2022.  

https://www.teamusa.org/usa-basketball/athletes/Brittney-Griner. “Brittney Griner.” www.teamusa.org. June 24, 2022.

Kirillova, Kseniya. https://cepa.org/russia-a-state-of-homophobia/. “Russia: A State of Homophobia.” www.cepa.org, June 8, 2022. 

WNBA.com – Official Site of the WNBA. “Brittney Griner – WNBA.com – Official Site of the WNBA.” www.wnba.com, June 14, 2022. https://www.wnba.com/player/brittney-griner/.

Rebecca Oliver is a scholar working on the Americans in Russia Project with the USA Digital History Lab. Rebecca chose to write about Brittney Griner to preserve key details about her arrest and detainment in Russia for future use. 

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