Four Female Same-Sex Relationships in U.S. Sports
There are multiple same-sex power couples in the women’s sports world that have stolen the attention of fans.
Not only are both people in the relationship incredible athletes, but they give their followers a glimpse into a softer side of their lives. Here are four of the most well-known sports power couples where both are athletes.
Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe
When you think of female same-sex relationships, Sue Bird — who recently retired from the WNBA and is arguably one of the best in the league's history — and Megan Rapinoe — a USWNT star — are probably the first pair that comes to your mind. The couple met in 2016 at a photo shoot for the Rio Olympics, but they didn’t start dating until the following year.
“I think I pinch myself all the time thinking how lucky we are to be in this life together,” Rapinoe said to People 2021.
The couple eventually got engaged in 2020 after three years of being together.
"We've always kind of known that this was forever, so we aren't necessarily in a rush," Bird said of their wedding timeline to People.
Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris
If Rapinoe and Bird didn’t come to your mind first, Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris are next in popularity of lesbian athlete relationships. The two USWNT soccer players told the world they were together publicly in 2019 and got married in December 2021.
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“Every day we show up, and for so long, we had to hide our love and our relationship and who we were and how we expressed ourselves because of the environment and because of our job,” Harris told teammates Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams on Just Women’s Sports’ podcast, Snacks.
Since getting married, the couple has adopted two children, Sloane and Ocean.
Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot
Known to fans as the “Vanderquigs”, Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot are teammates on the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. The pair met in 2013 when they were both finishing their time in Europe before joining the Sky, where they played against each other. Vandersloot was already on the Sky’s roster and Quigley was invited to training camp.
The two didn’t start dating until the end of the WNBA season and got married in 2019.
Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor
Taurasi and Taylor met while playing for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and married eight years later. Taylor eventually went on to coach for the Mercury and got married in 2017.
"Getting married, it gives us a little boost, for the rest of my career, for her coaching career, for our lives together, for our relationship to grow. It's the next progression," Taurasi said to The List.
Photo credits: Sue Bird’s Instagram, Ashlyn Harris’ Instagram, Courtney Vandersloot’s Instagram, Diana Taurasi's Instagram
