Brittney Griner

[tiggymalvern]

Am I the only person on the face of this planet to have zero fucking sympathy for Brittney Griner? This is one of the most famous women in her sport, who has acclaim, records, Olympic gold medals, enough money to live a perfectly cushy life. And yet year after year, she went to play basketball in Russia because they paid her well. Apparently she could ignore everything going on in Russia - the oppression of journalists, the murder and jailing of Putin's political opponents, the invasion of Ukraine - all because she was given enough money to ignore it.

This woman's a lesbian, openly so, she's married to a woman. And yet she cheerfully went to Russia every year, with not a care for the ever-worsening Russian treatment of gay people, the awful situations that her own people were being forced into there, because she was rich and famous enough not to care - those laws didn't matter to her and she was being well paid.

She only gave a shit about Russian oppression when suddenly it DID happen to her, and she spent nine months in a Russian jail for something that isn't a crime where she lives. And then the whole American media and even some of the international media's all upset about poor Brittney Griner; we have to get out her out of there, we have to exert all the diplomatic pressure in the world to get her back.

Well now she's back. And in exchange for this one stupid, selfish woman, an utter scumbag gets to walk free. There are people rotting in Russian jails who are worth fifty Brittney Griners, but the media doesn't seem to give a shit about too many of them.

Brittney Griner made her own choices, in full knowledge of the kind of country she was willing to patronise, and frankly I think she damn well deserved to be left there. But now she's out, she'd better give a whole lot of her money, including every cent she makes from selling her story, to Ukraine or Russian LGBT organisations - the people who really deserve the sympathy.

Comments

[tameiki]

Well said. And here I thought I was the only one who wasn't on the bandwagon. Although, to be fair, the Russian invasion of Ukraine didn't happen until after she was detained, she knew that US/Russia relations were strained at best even then. All your other points are spot on, however.

As for "accidentally" packing her vape cartridges into her luggage, I think that's a bunch of bull. As a long time vaper, I know for a fact that those cartridges are notorious for leaking so you have to pack them carefully in something like a zip-top baggie so the liquid doesn't leak all over your clothing and whatever else is in your suitcase.

You do not "accidentally" place them specially into a leak-proof container and then "accidentally" throw them into your luggage.

Putin needs the resources that Bout can provide as he's having supply issues in regard to ammunition. Bout can be useful in that regard.

I hope I'm wrong but I doubt BG learned much while she was in Russia and will probably be up to her old tricks in the US before long.

[tiggymalvern]

The Ukrainians are of the opinion that Russia invaded their country in 2014 when they seized Crimea and started a war in the Donbas region. I'm not going to argue with them.

I hope she's learned that your actions have consequences, and that repeatedly and lightly visiting a country with an appalling human rights record is a bad roll of the dice. Maybe she'll pick her destinations with more thought in future - even if it is for selfish reasons, not because she cares about the other people living there.

[bymyverytoes]

"old tricks"?

[tameiki]

She says one thing but does another.

She claims to want to work with LGBTQ+ kids to make their lives better, to make things better for the next generation so they don't have to go through things that she experienced. This is a wonderful use of her celebrity so she can help to make positive changes. The message that's implied is that she wants to be a positive role model for these kids. Then, she's arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and assault (as was her fiance and teammate at the time, Glory Johnson). Griner pleaded guilty of the disorderly conduct charge. Not a good look or actions for younger kids to follow.

If Griner really wanted to make things better for LGBTQ+ kids now and in the future, why was she okay to take money from Russia, which has a horrible track record of human rights, especially of the LGBTQ+ community?

Those are the "old tricks" that I refer to, and those are why, in my opinion, I don't care for her or have sympathy for her. For her sake, and the kids who look up to her, I hope she learned something. She has an endorsement contract with Nike, which, if I remember correctly, was for $1 million. It could possibly be more depending on how much sells and what the contract says. There are other ways to earn money, in my opinion. No, it's most likely not going to be comparable to the male athletes, but it's also not peanuts.

Wasn't Bout's sentence supposed to last until August 2029? Can't see him getting out for good behavior any earlier than that but I could be wrong.

[tiggymalvern]

Bout had served 10 years of a 25 year sentence. Legally you are always considered for parole after half your sentence is served, hence another 2 years. Of course, being considered for parole by the panel doesn't mean you'll actually get it.

[bymyverytoes]

Griner is far from the only gay person, let alone the only person, to make a living working in Russia. And a lot of the people moaning about her release now are making a handsome living being apologists for the worst Putin has done and is.

I think to dump on her for using her opportunities which, as a gay black woman, are a lot less than those of the straight white men crapping on her, is victim blaming. What she did or did not have in her bags, is very unclear as it appears she was encouraged to admit to more than she did in a failed attempt to win favour from the Russians, and she certainly was not in a good position at her trial. Regardless of that, she is not a criminal. She is a victim of Putin as surely as any other person he's wrongfully and corruptly imprisoned. Blaming a gay woman for Putin's homophobic rampages isn't right, to my mind.

Sportspeople are put in invidious situations too often just to earn money, as we've just seen in Qatar. Griner had every reason to think she would be safe returning to Russia again. She was wrong.

The scumbag was due for release in two years, by the way.

[tiggymalvern]

I think to dump on her for using her opportunities which, as a gay black woman, are a lot less than those of the straight white men crapping on her, is victim blaming.

If she needed the money, if she was desperate to make a living, I'd agree with you. She didn't need that money, she just wanted it. She currently has a salary of over 200k a year with her American team, plus sponsorship deals. The fact that she's not the only gay person to earn money in Russia doesn't make it laudable.

She's someone who had choices. The choice to stand up and make a statement about the way gay people are treated, or to keep her mouth shut and take the money. Yes, the Russian legal system fucked her over (funny that!) and she was convinced to make a terrible plea deal. They couldn't have done that to her if she hadn't put herself in the hands of a fascist dictatorship. You and I will just have to differ on this one.

Qatar is a shitshow, and only happened because FIFA is massively corrupt. The athletes there have a horrendous choice to make, because it's not just about them - if they make a stand and decide not to go, they're letting down their teammates and their country. Lewis Hamilton races in F1 in shitty middle eastern countries with terrible human rights records because he has a contract that doesn't let him pick and choose between races, because he can't just ditch his team. But he goes on record, loudly, saying that he doesn't think F1 races should be held in those countries. Griner's decision was one hundred percent hers, and she stayed quiet.