Brittney Griner’s Russia Trial Resonates With Queer Black Women And Nonbinary People
A Russian judge on Thursday sentenced WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner to nine years in a penal colony for drug possession and smuggling, in addition to a $1 million ruble fine, after being held for months in what the U.S. government has classified as a “wrongful detainment.”
Griner’s case, which was first reported in March, has been followed closely by queer Black women and nonbinary activists, who told The 19th that her plight is personal to them. The WNBA star is one of the most famous, and most visible, Black lesbians in the world — and her case highlights the racial disparities that Black women are subjected to.
“What she’s experiencing isn’t foreign to us,” said Victoria Kirby York, deputy executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition.
The Williams ...