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

[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.