Minnesota Lynx star Seimone Augustus
hopes her coming out gay helps others.
The 28-year-old Augustus, who earned
MVP honors while leading the Lynx to the 2011 WNBA championship, over
the summer began discussing her engagement to longtime girlfriend
LaTaya Varner, marking her public statements on her sexual
orientation.
Varner is given credit for nudging
Augustus to speak out against a proposed constitutional amendment
which would define marriage as a heterosexual union in Minnesota.
In an August cover story for Twin
Cities guide Vita.mn, Augustus discussed her decision to come out.
“You've got to be a role model, and
that means letting people into your life and letting them in on the
happiness and the joy,” she said. “And right now, I just
finished a championship season and decided to propose to the love of
my life.”
Augustus also served as co-grand
marshal at Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade in downtown Minneapolis,
which she called one of the nation's finest.
“I feel like it's my people –
people I'm comfortable being around. We just have this one time of
year that we actually get to celebrate who we are and be comfortable
with that,” she
said.