The Valkyries won the WNBA title. The photos with their girlfriends celebrate another victory.
The postgame celebrations captured LGBTQ Golden State Valkyries players living their best lives with the women they love.
Mark
The Golden State Valkyries are an historically significant champion in WNBA history.
The team won the league championship in only their second season in existence — and did so with a come-from-behind second-half dominance.
The women who made that happen are even more special.
Finals MVP Gabby Williams scored 28 points in the second half of Game 7 to secure a five-point win over the Dream. It completed a special season for the UConn alum who has often been overlooked and undervalued through the first several years of her career in Chicago and Seattle.
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Her arrival in San Francisco marks a new chapter of respect and admiration from her peers and fans.
Increased attention means an increased spotlight on an athlete’s personal life.
Williams was one of the Valkyries players who was photographed with their significant other after winning the trophy on Saturday night. She’s in a relationship with New York Liberty player Marine Johannès.
This viral post on X also shows Valkyries player Cecilia Zandalasini with her romantic partner, Sara Barbieri. Take a look at the special moment below.
The post labels them “wifey” — That doesn’t mean their wives, but just in a romantic relationship. Either way, it’s a unique moment and cultural touchstone showing how far LGBTQ progress has come in professional sports.
LGBTQ inclusion makes more progress in the WNBA
It would have been much harder to imagine same-sex couples posing after winning a title in the past. Stories of gay and lesbian players pressured into staying in the closet or “looking straight” in the early years of the WNBA abound.
The WNBA has evolved into a pioneering league in LGBTQ progress and advancement in sports. Williams was the 11th LGBTQ WNBA Finals MVP in the last 21 years. Williams and Zandalasini were two of at least five out LGBTQ players in this year’s WNBA Finals.
The WNBA isn’t the only place we can celebrate this type of social progress, though. Olympic hockey star Hilary Knight and her longtime partner, speed skater Brittany Bowe, got engaged at this year’s Winter Olympics and celebrated at the Olympic Village.
Basketball icon Sue Bird and soccer legend Megan Rapinoe, one of the most famous LGBTQ power couples ever, shared an intimate moment after Bird won a gold medal at the Olympics back in 2021. The roles were reversed just a couple of years earlier when the couple shared a kiss after a World Cup match that Rapinoe was playing in.
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe share a moment after Team USA wins gold 
(via @NBCOlympics) pic.twitter.com/KaO2DV5yKv— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 8, 2021
All of these instances stand as great examples of the courage LGBTQ athletes have shown to share special moments with their romantic partners in front of the world after a big win. They show what has been an avalanche of inclusion in women’s sports that will only get larger as the years go on.
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