The kind of online insults Brittney Griner faced Wednesday night during the 2013 ESPY Awards are exactly the kind of taunts she's faced her whole life, but now the WNBA star is rising above it all.
Griner, a former Baylor University basketball standout who is now making waves with the Phoenix Mercury, earned an ESPY Wednesday for "Best Female College Athlete."
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The 6-foot-8 Griner has achieved celebrity status ever since she revealed her sexuality in April and later became the first openly gay Nike spokesperson. Even though Griner has embraced her new life as a role model, online haters still make fun of her androgynous appearance and deep voice.
Griner remembers being teased mercilessly in middle school. Once a boy stopped her in the hallway to say, "You're a dude."
"I just stood there and took it. I was humiliated. The whole school was laughing at me,"
Griner, 22, told the Los Angeles Times of the incident. "When I was younger, it really bothered me to the point where I was like 'I don't even want to be alive; why am I getting treated like that?' But as I got older, I started caring less."
Now, Griner is open and proud of her sexuality and appearance. She even got a tattoo of interlocking female symbols to show off her gay pride.
"I've learned to love myself," she said.
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