"Never wanted to be the female”: Brittney Griner reflects on her childhood role-play in heartfelt moment, says she’s ‘never dated a man’

The stories that Brittney Griner has told on the "Funky Friday Podcast" have been nothing short of riveting. One topic that came up in this episode was Griner's journey of discovering her sexual orientation.

At one point in the episode, host Cam Newton asked the Atlanta Dream center to recall the point when she began to realize her identity. In response, Griner brought back childhood memories of playtime.

"When we played house, I never wanted to be the female," Griner told Newton. "I always wanted to be the guy, the one to go to work, to provide, to take care of home, to protect." [Timestamp - 2:31:45]

Griner, who publicly came out as lesbian in a 2013 Sports Illustrated interview, went on to attribute this particular affinity to her father Raymond, a veteran of the Vietnam War and a former Houston police officer.

"It probably goes back to my pops, who did it so well," Griner said. "He worked his butt off, he provided for us...he wasn't going to let anyone disrespect my mama." [Timestamp - 2:32:05]

Additionally, when Griner was asked if she ever dated a man, her immediate response was: "Never."

Newton, who called himself a "straight man" in this conversation, then sought Griner's help to learn about terms that members of the LGBTQ+ community find offensive. This led to Griner talking about her personal preference (or lack thereof) for certain pronouns.

"I'm fluid. It really don't make a difference if you say 'he' or 'she' to me when I'm out in public," she clarified. [Timestamp: 2:33:35]

Griner added that, even when her teammates get offended on her behalf, she sees no insult whenever someone calls her a "he."

"What do I get from that?": Brittney Griner gets candid on people who think she's lying about her identity

To further illustrate her point, Griner told a story about airport staff being unnecessarily suspicious of her identity.

According to Griner, while she is bemused by some male TSA agents who cautiously refuse to pat her down, she does get annoyed by other agents who are apparently too judgmental.

"[This TSA agent] is looking at my chest, looking at me up and down, trying to look at the ID, making it look awkward," Griner recalled. "They'll ask me, 'You really a girl?' Nah, I'm lying. I just wanna make a joke. What do I get from that?" [Timestamp - 2:34:22]

While Griner claimed to find no offense with people who use the "wrong term" when referring to her, she pointed to incidents like the airport anecdote as "just being rude."