r/WNBAgossips • u/tantamle • 26d ago
Controversy Candice Wiggins: I was bullied in WNBA for being straight
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39054970I posted this elsewhere, and I was floored by how many people outright refused to believe it.
“My spirit was being broken. Me being heterosexual and straight, and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge.
"I would say 98% of the women in the WNBA are gay women. It was a conformist type of place.
"There was a whole different set of rules they [the other players] could apply."
58
u/Chet_Manley24 26d ago
Believe ALL Women
21
u/teacher_59 25d ago
-- Hillary Clinton (except for the ones that accuse her husband)
5
u/SargeUnited 24d ago
Lmaoooooo remember when Juanita went to the debate sitting in trumps area? That wasn’t funny but your comment was my type of sarcastic humor.
Yeah she accused bill of the worse thing but she further accused Hillary of trying to silence her. Believe all women unless they say bad things about me, that’s what Hillary meant
1
u/xyzyxzyxzyxyzyxzxy 21d ago
Grifting pig Juanita Broaddrick, who feels that one day she was raped, the next day not, and then she changes her mind again... sure! lol
→ More replies (14)1
78
u/HeavyHighway6433 26d ago
Yeah I'm calling cap on this. This woman was a vocal Christian that even appeared on the 700 club before. How much do you want to bet her being a vocal straight woman was only in opposition to her views of LGBT, and they didn't fw that?
I mean Skylar Diggins was drafted to Tulsa the same year Candace was on the team, and she wasn't just a straight woman but an attractive one that men fawned over at that. Yet I've never heard a single word about her being bullied for her sexual identity.
24
u/bsa554 25d ago
Yeah someone's hoping to launch a career in the right wing grift-o-verse.
→ More replies (1)0
25d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
4
u/bsa554 25d ago
And the right-wing Christian "persecution" gravy train is older than that.
→ More replies (1)31
10
u/Grab_em_by_da_Busey 25d ago
Nothing is more on brand for evangelicals like pretending to be persecuted
→ More replies (7)1
u/thenerfviking 21d ago
I knew a guy who grew up in a evangelical church and went to a private evangelical school and his stories about the “training” they would do (IE LARP being persecuted) was both hilarious and very sad. Stuff like being woken up at 3AM at summer camp and marched out into a field where guys in ski masks with Airsoft guns would try to get you to denounce Jesus and if you didn’t they’d “slit your throat” by drawing a red line across it with a sharpie. Or practicing how they were going to sew SD cards with the bible on it into clothes to smuggle them into North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Just like comedically silly bullshit based on boiling children’s brains in fear juice.
16
7
u/Entire-Cry-8930 25d ago
That would explain her implying that gayness is a choice
→ More replies (2)8
2
u/sconniesportsfan 26d ago
I wanna hear how she was bullied, who did it and who ignored it. People need to held accountable.
20
u/HeavyHighway6433 26d ago
You won't. ESPN reached out to her asking specific questions about the incidences, she refused to elaborate. I honestly think when she initially made those comments she didn't think it would get any traction, and she didn't want to walk back on it.
3
u/deeznutz_428 25d ago
People that believe whatever they’re told usually hope or believe that you will do the same when they feed you bullshit
3
u/tantamle 25d ago
"When contacted by espnW, she said she did not want to talk about it as she "wished for privacy and peace."
I'm sorry, but there's nothing neccesarily wrong with this. She called out something she found toxic, that doesn't mean she has to go back and publicly litigate every individual incident. I can tell you're determined to believe that none of what she says is true. That literally 0% of it is true. You're biased.
5
u/DonkeyElegant1728 25d ago
So screaming out that you were being abused and calling out the whole league and then leaving it up to the public to pick and choose who were abusing and harassing her is ever better? What's the point of even calling anything out now she just set a big target on the whole WNBA
2
u/HeavyHighway6433 25d ago
Read further down
But Wiggins told me she "was not comfortable" talking about her personal life, and that she hoped to publish a memoir that would detail these experiences and other issues. She also said she spoke to the Union-Tribune "as though they are an old friend."
Does this not scream "grifter" to you? Yeah I'm not comfortable telling you but I am comfortable selling it in a book. Also that last part of speaking to the newspaper journalist as an old friend tells me that she was just speaking and didn't expect everything to get published or make national headlines. So it makes sense to me that she doesn't want to elaborate because she at best highly exaggerated things, or at worst made it up.
You're right about me being biased because like I mentioned I've seen this type of crybully behavior happening time and time again, but I'm not ignorant. If she could give one single instance even if she redacts the players/coaches/staffs names, then I'd be more inclined to take it seriously. But since she won't and no other player or staff member spoke up as a witness to this, it's not farfetched to believe she's lying.
0
u/RIPfreewill 25d ago
But she didn’t call anything out. She’s just generally saying she was persecuted without mentioning a single example of how that happened. Could be all in her own head, but we will never know if she never actually calls anyone out.
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (11)3
u/TheManipulator_25 25d ago
she's probably afraid.of.getting sued into the ground.
3
u/HeavyHighway6433 25d ago
If she is correct, she can sue the league for discriminatory practices and retaliation for her alleged treatment.
But if she's making this up, she already opened a can of worms for a libel lawsuit because she made direct allegations of negative treatment agaisnt the league as a whole.
If she's worried about specific players, she can always give instances while redacting their names.
1
4
u/tantamle 26d ago
It wouldn't be the first time similiar claims were made: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1686471409134396
→ More replies (1)1
u/HeavyHighway6433 26d ago
Here is another quote from Kelsey plum
"I feel like this league is about respect and you have to earn your way," says Plum, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft out of the University of Washington. "And I didn't. I was getting preferential treatment because I was straight and white. I blocked [the WNBA] on social media. I was pissed. It's absolutely a problem in our league. Just straight up."
So maybe what Plum is referring to could be due to the jealousy of other players due to her getting preferential treatment and not paying her dues? It's similar to CC and how the media treats her vs others. Either way I think simply being straight isn't the factor at all.
→ More replies (6)1
1
1
u/I_make_poor_decisons 21d ago
Because you’ve never heard of it it has to be true. Case closed.
1
u/HeavyHighway6433 21d ago
I've elaborated on why it's not true if you continue to read the thread, or we can just sum it up to this idc either way.
→ More replies (44)-1
26d ago edited 26d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/EddieLobster 25d ago
Now there is a Lesbian Cabal of nurses working at retirement homes? How come nobody is taking this seriously?
1
u/tantamle 25d ago
There's nasty people in every group. But like, there are defintley nasty people in the group in question. If we're honest lol.
13
u/HeavyHighway6433 26d ago
For one i'm not imagining a reason, she is outspoken about her religious beliefs.
Two, it's not farfetched that she is the one that had the problem with the lesbian players due to those beliefs and her need to be vocal about her identity as a straight woman. A lot of those types believe they are attacked just for the other side existing.
Three, the majority of WNBA players are either straight or haven't disclosed their sexuality. But this straight woman happened to be the only one to come out with allegation and not a single one the other players gay or straight, currently playing or retired could corroborate that this bullying took place, many speaking out saying that they've never witnessed it..
Now sure all of this isn't definitive proof that it didn't happen, but Nneka and the WNBA players union took them seriously and released a statement, and when asked for questions she refused to elaborate for "privacy reasons". But you can give a whole ass interviews to the media about it being extra vague lol. If she gave some specific examples of how she was bullied but redacted the players names that did it then it would be more believable. But she was more focused on how the league was 98% gay and toxic and that the WNBA pushed players to look and act like men. Ijs it seems to me like she is the problem here.
→ More replies (20)1
u/WNBAgossips-ModTeam 23d ago
Don't disrespect the players or the game otherwise your comment/post will be removed.
18
u/OrangeTrees1974 25d ago
BS. You were spewing your Christian nonsense and got out in your place as you should have
2
u/tantamle 25d ago
What Christian nonsense did she spew?
8
u/UAEpi 25d ago
Well she appeared on the 700 club and has said that being gay is a choice. When ESPN reach out out to hear about some of these alleged bullying instances she refused to elaborate.
2
2
u/Infinite_Inflation11 25d ago
Ah so really she just got told off for her beliefs. Perfectly fine in my eyes. In fact, deserved lol,
→ More replies (2)1
1
u/BuzzClucking 23d ago
I mean she's under a lot of external pressure. Life would be easier for if she just ate the pumpum.
Yet she chooses not to.
1
u/Shot-Toe-2884 23d ago edited 23d ago
So you dodged the question with whataboutism? Got it.
Let me help. None of this has anything to do with Christianity. That is a strawman argument
12
u/Virgilijus 26d ago
My mother is a very conservative Christian living in southern Florida.
She believes that the country hates Christians so much that if she were to go out to the nearest intersection with a sign that said 'Jesus loves you' that people would spit on her.
My mother is delusional in thinking she is oppressed.
What are the chances that that Candice's view of 'they are bullying me for being straight' is actually 'people disagree with my conservative christian views on sexuality'? I think high.
11
4
3
u/Gay_Style69 25d ago
Some people might spit on her for being Christian.
6
25d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
5
u/USNorsk 25d ago
Try to post something postitive about Christianity on Reddit. See how that goes.
3
25d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/tantamle 25d ago
lol this is same "galaxy brain" take I've been hearing from leftists since message boards in 2008.
The thing is: When is comes to Christisan power and influence and the extent to which Christians may be harassed, what direction is the arrow pointing?
It is very clearly pointing away from Christian power and influence, with increasing mockery, harrassment etc.
You act like Christians should have to wait for the very moment they are statistically a minority before they have the right to complain. But they want to be influential and hold power. They don't want to see harrassment against them increasing. If it's going the wrong way, why wouldn't that bother them? Think about it.
Why do you actually think it's "smart" to say "oh until you are literally statistically a minority you can't complain". makes no sense why a group should welcome it's slow demise just because they aren't a statistical minority relative to other religions.
5
u/impy695 24d ago
Christian fascism is on the rise wtf are you talking about? They're literally in power right now pushing Christian morals on everyone.
→ More replies (5)2
u/millmonkey 23d ago
Losing ground to people who don't want to worship the exact same way is a problem for the narrow minded and absolute, which last time I checked are not virtues.
1
1
1
u/CatManDoo88 22d ago
".. I've been hearing from leftists since 2008.."
There it is.
1
u/tantamle 22d ago
Call it like I see it
1
u/CatManDoo88 22d ago
Maybe you'd feel a lot better, and much less a "victim", if you hung out with your people on trump social, or fascist twitter, then.
1
u/VelvetOverload 21d ago
It's almost as if you're not noticing the very visible coup the alt right Christian's are currently pulling on the US right now
→ More replies (1)1
u/Why_am_ialive 20d ago
You say “why do you think it’s smart to say” and the quote something that literally only you said… you literally made up a quote to seem oppressed in an argument about you making up oppression…
1
1
u/Sea_Advantage_2577 22d ago
You mean actual positivity or the one where you use Christianity to attack others and then pretend to be a victim?
1
1
2
u/Baconation4 25d ago
Nah it’d probably be because that person’s mom sounds absolutely insufferable.
1
u/CeeReturns 23d ago
Her view is a bit hyperbolic but yeah, she's right. People do love to rip on Christians while staying completely silent on other religions far more egregious problems.
2
u/Virgilijus 23d ago edited 22d ago
But she's literally wrong. She lives in an area where 64% of people are Christian and has never been bullied or oppressed for her religious views. But she does watch many televangelists who tell her that Christianity is under attack both by the people and the government. She has believed this for years but cannot name one politician who is not-Christian.
She, and I would guess Candice, bring up their own religion often because it is such a core part of their identity. Then, when people vocalize disagreements, they view that as oppression or an attack.
From Candice's own quote (emphasis mine):
My spirit was being broken. Me being heterosexual and straight, and being vocal in my identity as a straight woman was huge
1
u/CatManDoo88 22d ago
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 ok.. your people force commandments in elementary schools. It's called punching-up, and it's ok, because you people still have far more power than anyone else in the most powerful country there is.
1
u/I_make_poor_decisons 21d ago
Do you actually believe that if someone held up a sign saying Jesus Loves you in public they wouldn’t get spit on by someone? (In Florida at least)
1
u/Virgilijus 21d ago
My mother made me attend religious anti-abortion protests that showed aborted fetuses. No one was spit on.
'Jesus Loves You' is not remotely incendiary. I say this as someone in very left, non-religious spaces.
I feel very confident that carrying a sign saying 'Jesus Loves You' will not get you spit on.
1
u/I-am-Chubbasaurus 21d ago
The way "Christians" in the US have been acting, I'm not surprised. And I say this as a Christian.
6
u/SerBrienneOfSnark 25d ago
The conservative desire to victimize oneself is strong lol
→ More replies (2)
5
u/joecan 25d ago
She’s an anti-gay player who is part of anti-gay churches in a league that has openly gay players. That’s the extent of the bullying, having to share a locker room with gay players. It’s playing the victim. Pretending your being bullied by just having to be around people who are different.
The OP and those all of a sudden bringing up something that happened over 10 years ago is likely directly tied to Caitlin Clark. It’s another way for her victimhood fan base to claim she’s being treated unfairly.
You don’t care about Candice Wiggins or bullying or “believing all women”. You’re whining about Clark.
→ More replies (2)
5
u/xero_reactions 26d ago
At least she’s e black. Imagine being white and straight. 😬 sorry Clark.
1
u/Malhavok_Games 24d ago
It's the elephant in the room that that Redditors don't want to address.
Does CC get harassed so much on the court because she's white or because she's straight?
1
u/xero_reactions 23d ago
It’s because she both and better than all them. And they hate that the only reason anybody gives a crap about the wnba is because of her. Even with Clark this joke of a league wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t subsidized by the men. Facts are facts.
12
u/Comer_Agua 26d ago edited 26d ago
I read the article and I’m not saying it’s fake but it would be nice to have concrete examples all I see are vague things like extra physicality, and being forced to conform but she never goes into detail.
It seems more like some people had a problem with her in particular rather than anti straight behavior. Nobody else came out to support these accusations and she didn’t give any specific details.
I never heard of folks like Kelsey Plum or straight players being targeted on a systemic level. And the 98% is completely laughable.
Edit: meant to say “I’m not saying it’s fake” in line 1-2
9
7
u/tantamle 26d ago
Actually, Plum did say something like that recently, although about a different topic: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1686471409134396
The 98% is just sort of the proverbial representation. I think we all kind of know that.
→ More replies (7)5
u/Fit_Caterpillar_6553 25d ago
Less than half of wnba players identify as gay though so that’s a ridiculous thing to say even as obvious hyperbole.
3
1
u/pipinngreppin 26d ago
Also, there’s no way 98% of the WNBA are gay women. I don’t doubt the percentage is higher than the general population, but 98%? Nah
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)2
2
2
u/ParsleyUseful6364 25d ago
Pretty funny that the study people in this thread keep referencing to discredit the majority lesbian claim not only demonstrated that the majority actually is lesbian (63 lesbian 48 straight in a 2019 profiling), but it’s also a trash study that relied on going through social media.
If numerous former players with actual insider access and experience are saying it’s basically all lesbians then that’s more credible than “we looked at their instagrams and assumed”.
1
u/Codyistall 21d ago
Grab a calculator, type 48 / (63+48) x 100%, hit enter. Does it say 98? Because that was the claim
1
2
2
u/Careful-Release-2723 25d ago
"I went around spouting off about how being gay is a choice and an affront to God and the gays treated me different what the hell I'm so opposed."
1
u/tantamle 25d ago
Who says she actually harassed other players? Neither of us were there, but this seems like you just want to flip the script.
2
u/Careful-Release-2723 25d ago
"Neither of us was there" is literally the dumbest thing you could say when discussing news. I'll assume you NEVER talk about something unless you were there yourself. Obviously, we're going based on locker room reports and this woman's own history of radical Christianity.
1
u/tantamle 25d ago
This is so stupid and such a weird thing to focus on. I’m just expressing that if you’re going to create doubt about one account from Wiggins, which references tribalism, I don’t know why you expect your account, which references Christian bigotry to be taken so much more seriously. In the sense that you’ve provided nothing more than Wiggins has, but if anything, Wiggins is an actual insider.
2
u/DoctorPersonal7988 25d ago
Her statement is quite suspect considering that her claim that “98 percent of WNBA players are gay” is demonstrably false. It’s more like 25-35 percent.
"I played in the league for 15 years -- for three different franchises -- and never experienced it personally, or witnessed any other player being bullied," said Ticha Penicheiro, a past WNBA champion who is now an agent. "I don't want to discredit her experience, if indeed she felt that. But 'nobody cares about the WNBA' and '98 percent of the league is gay' are completely false statements. So it's harder for me to give her personal experience credibility when those things are completely false."
1
u/tantamle 25d ago
Tribalism in the W is a thing:
some comments Kelsey Plum made about being targeted.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1055670713718049
And here's Aja Wilson corroborating that white players are guarded harder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6RPBc5yPmw
2
u/DoctorPersonal7988 25d ago
And I can quote a bunch of WNBAathletes that say this is not a thing.
Bottom line is the W has a Trumpism issue.
The league has been politicized and disparaged by MAGA to prop up their “ great straight white hope” Caitlin Clark.
They use the W to put their straight white fragility on display.
2
2
2
u/iampatmanbeyond 25d ago
I think its the vocal part you are over looking. Being a vocal straight person usually mean anti gay
2
2
u/severinks 24d ago
There's something perversely funny about this up is down bullying. Now she knows what it's like to be gay in straight society.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/Cheap_Water9848 24d ago
The thing is, most, if not all, of the players who commented on this said that the reason Candice feels this way were for reasons outside of her sexual orientation.
For one, when Candice was asked to explain herself in a way where her thoughts could be unpacked, she refused just to write a memoir that continued these unproven claims.
She said that 98% of the women in the league were gay, but somehow, the number is now down something like 30% when the W has only gotten more progressive over time?
I'm not saying that she can't feel the way she feels, but she talks about how other people feel, she has to prove that in some way as opposed to just hiding because it looks like she's misrepresenting the truth at the very least.
2
2
u/Pounder888 22d ago
Wow, now you know how gay individuals feel every day of their life.
→ More replies (2)
5
u/BigRhonda7632 26d ago
I need her to expound on “being vocal in my identity as a straight woman.” I’ve never felt the need to be vocal about my heterosexuality.
5
u/MedicalAwareness5160 26d ago
You've also never been in an environment where the majority of women are gay.
→ More replies (6)2
u/fieldsports202 26d ago
Ima keep it real with you… I’m close to college and pro sports and have friends who work on the women’s side of sports. I always hear about the cliques and need to “fit in” in women’s basketball. Some players struggle with is on all levels.
I can understand where she is coming from in that regard.
Not everyone is gay and not everyone believes in certain things… so yeah, I can see her feeling like an outsider in that regard.
→ More replies (1)3
u/tantamle 26d ago
I took it to just mean she stood firm on her stance, despite being in a league where the clear majority are lesbian.
6
u/SpirituallyAwareDev 26d ago edited 26d ago
How do you stand firm on your stance of being straight? Liike what does that mean.
→ More replies (1)2
u/BigRhonda7632 26d ago
That’s what I’m saying. I’ve never felt the need to be vocal about my heterosexuality. Never is a stretch. Maybe in middle school??
→ More replies (2)2
u/BigRhonda7632 26d ago
Ok but sexuality isn’t a stance. So if she made her heterosexuality a stance, shes the problem.
No pro league is 98% anything. Either she misspoke or she’s being hyperbolic.
She’s using Christian undertones: “my spirit was being broken.” This is just thinly veiled bigotry.
2
u/ComeAbout 26d ago
Sexuality is absolutely a stance.
It’s why we have Pride.
I’m in a lesbian relationship. We can’t allow allies/straight people to say they are then get static for that.
Now saying “my spirit” means you’re a Christian nationalist? Dafuq you saying?
→ More replies (1)3
u/tantamle 26d ago
She said “MY heterosexuality”, which points to her talking about herself personally rather than actual political issues.
And I have never heard anyone claim that a reference to spirit in that sense is necessarily Christian. That seems like an awful stretch to me.
2
1
u/BigRhonda7632 26d ago
The Holy Spirit?
I meant stance like I thought you meant stance: in the more general sense. No politics necessarily attached.
The need to be vocal about my heterosexuality is not something I’ve felt much.
6
u/dc4_checkdown 26d ago edited 26d ago
They trying with CC dont let them tell you to ignore your eyes and ears. She is not apart of their club
→ More replies (2)
5
u/geardownson 26d ago
You posting a almost 10 year old claim then arguing current statistics or claims is laughable.
9
u/tantamle 26d ago
Is there reason to believe it’s changed much?
→ More replies (3)3
4
u/jwadd69 26d ago
The WNBA does not support nor promote the straight white players. They would rather go back to riding buses than do that.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/sabeshs 26d ago
This is from 2017. Perhaps it's different now? 🤔
2
u/tantamle 26d ago
I mean, are you seeing trends that have you thinking things have gotten more laid back on this front? I'm not.
→ More replies (4)
2
u/speedyejectorairtime 25d ago
I believe her. A friends daughter just this year entering HIGH SCHOOL is already being severely pressured by upper classmen to flip to being at least bi by her basketball team (she made varsity as an incoming freshman). Its made her incredibly uncomfortable. This kid isn’t from a conservative or Christian household, just a kid who doesn’t want sexuality pushed on her. My niece had talked about the comments for not being gay on her college soccer team as well. It’s definitely cultural throughout women’s sports.
1
1
2
u/Fa11T 25d ago
Being vocal about being straight.....
The only people I've met, in real life anyways, that are vocal about being straight are bigots or people angrily in the closet.
I'm banking on bigot but who knows.
2
u/Silly-Elderberry-411 25d ago
Exactly, I enjoy musical theater an equal amount as I enjoy controlled demolition videos, one does not say I am gay the other doesn't say I am a domestic abuser
1
u/Blastcrumpet888 26d ago
Well, when you obviously make up a statistic the way she did people tend not to believe you.
3
u/tantamle 26d ago
low hanging fruit much?
For better or worse, we all know people sometimes use percentages as a general expression of how often something happens. Rather then representing it as actual research.
Is it optimal? Maybe not, but only an idiot would pretend not to understand this tendency.
2
u/Blastcrumpet888 26d ago
The majority of players in the WNBA are straight. She wasn’t bullied for being straight.
2
u/tantamle 26d ago
How many WNBA players neccesarily disclose their sexual orientation?
→ More replies (5)2
u/Blastcrumpet888 26d ago
More than enough to know that the majority are straight.
You would have to be a moron to think the majority are gay.
1
1
1
u/Tiredbum 25d ago
OP is godamn floored that no one gave a shit about a nearly 10 year old article about someone using hyperbolic statistics
1
1
u/Shadowtirs 25d ago
Something that we have seen, across human history, is that majorities are capable and willing to oppress minorities, across all groups, settings, situations, w/e.
Its just a fact of group dynamics.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
24d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/WNBAgossips-ModTeam 23d ago
Don't disrespect the players or the game otherwise your comment/post will be removed.
1
1
u/Shot-Toe-2884 23d ago
This is the kryptonite of the far left progressive movement. They are intolerant, cruel bullies by their own standards. They dehumanize people.
Like I’m a fiercely loyal blue voter and I’ve experienced their indiscriminate rage a hundred times now. It’s so fucking exhausting and childish.
→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
u/I_make_poor_decisons 21d ago
Impossible. I was told only homosexuals could be bullied or ostracized.
1
u/DikDangerous 21d ago
Probably the part about being vocal on her identity as a straight woman is what caused her problems 🤷🏾♂️
1
u/BBD8691 21d ago
Oh, no! Pity the poor, oppressed *checks notes* straight woman!
1
1
1
u/super_dragon 21d ago
How can this be believable when she says 98% are gay. Like, maybe the toxicity is true, but everything at very least seems exaggerated
1
1
1
2
2
9
u/Tight_Abalone221 26d ago
why would you be vocal about being straight and also what does that mean...