The groundbreaking online video series “Ballin’ Out,” presented by Outsports, follows several out LGBTQ women in and around the USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team.
Now several of them will be competing for the United States in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
“This team competing at the Paralympics has every opportunity to win a gold medal,” Stephanie Wheeler told Outsports. She should know. She won two Paralympic golds as a player, and one as a head coach, for Team USA.
“Thinking about teams that are successful, they have speed, they have the ability to score in different ways, they can defend, they have veteran leadership and young players who might be on the verge of changing the game, and they have great coaching. This team has everything it needs to go win a gold medal.”
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Who are the out gay, bi, lesbian and queer women who are looking to bring a medal home to the United States? Here are the out women competing for Team USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
Josie Aslakson
Josie Aslakson may have come to being an out LGBTQ athlete in an indirect way. She hasn’t worn her love or orientation on her shirtsleeve.
Yet she is a featured player in the ‘Ballin’ Out’ series from Outsports.
Aslakson has been part of the USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team for many years, competing at the 2018 World Championships, then winning a bronze medal at the World Championships in Dubai in 2023.
She was also part of the bronze medal team at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 under coach Trooper Johnson. She was part of the group that revolted against Johnson, leading to him being replaced as the head coach.
Related
Groundbreaking new series ‘Ballin’ Out’ showcases LGBTQ athletes and coaches on USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team
Outsports presents a unique video series, ‘Ballin’ Out,’ showcasing the lives of LGBTQ athletes and coaches for USA Wheelchair Basketball.
By Cyd Zeigler | August 22, 2024
Kaitlyn Eaton
Kaitlyn Eaton has been a part of the USA women’s wheelchair basketball team for many years, though there was a pause at one point in 2023 while she worked through medical issues.
While she was part of the USA team that won bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics, she was left off of the 2023 World Championships team after dealing with some health issues, something she discusses in “Ballin’ Out.”
Now she’s back, aiming to win her second Paralympics medal. This time she wants gold.
Eaton embraces her nickname on the team: Squirrel.
Courtney Ryan
Courtney Ryan is a star in the women’s wheelchair basketball scene. Before that, she was a successful athlete in women’s soccer. She was a soccer player with the Metro State Roadrunners, an NCAA Division II team, from 2008 to 2010. In her freshman season, the team made it to the NCAA Final Four.
It was in 2010 that she suffered her life-altering injury.
“Twenty minutes into the game, I’m running for the ball,” Ryan says in Ballin’ Out. “The defender slide-tackles me from behind. My legs fall out from under me. I land on my back.”
She said hours later in the hospital, as she learned that she may be in a wheelchair the rest of her life, “from grief it kind of turned into anger. This wasn’t in the books. It wasn’t in the plans.”
Now unable to compete in Division II women’s soccer, she began looking for another outlet. That’s when she came across women’s wheelchair basketball.
Since then, she has won a bronze medal at both the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, as well as the 2023 World Championships.
Now she leads Team USA headed into the Paris Paralympics.
Desi Miller
Desi Miller is a coach with the USA women’s wheelchair basketball team. She was a player on the team that won the Paralympics gold medal in 2016, under head coach Stephanie Wheeler.
Now Miller is an assistant coach for the team.
She backs up head coach Christina Schwab.
They both helped lead the team to a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships, as well as a gold medal at the Parapan American Games in 2023.
Other non-Paralympics Team USA members in ‘Ballin’ Out’
The “Ballin’ Out” series does showcase at least one other out LGBTQ woman in and around the USA team.
Mandy Willmore competed in college athletics for South Dakota Mines before becoming an athlete in a disabled adaptive sport. Since then, Willmore has chosen to remove herself from contention for the national team.
Paris is not Dubai
When the 2023 World Championships were in Dubai, there was a concern about being too visible as out athletes and coaches.
“We had a lot of hesitation as far as making sure we’re modest with our behavior and not offending the culture,” Ryan said about the World Championships in Dubai.
Being out as an LGBTQ athlete in and around Paris is a different dynamic, as France has legalized same-sex marriage and gay relationships. Be looking out on social media for the women to share their experiences.
