First-Round WNBA Draft Pick Layshia Clarendon Joins Athlete Ally as Pro Ambassador
Today Athlete Ally announces that WNBA player Layshia Clarendon is joining more than 130 professional athletes as a Professional Ambassador. Athlete Ally Ambassadors help the organization promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) inclusion and equality in sports and under the law, by speaking out to their peers and fan bases.
Clarendon is a guard for the Indiana Fever, and was a first-round draft pick in 2013. During her time at UC Berkeley, she led the Women’s Basketball team to their first Final Four appearance in program history. Clarendon finished her college career fourth all-time in scoring and earned All PAC-12 first team honors, Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as a finalist for the CLASS award.
“Visibility is one of my main goals in expanding awareness around the LGBT community,” said Clarendon. “I take my responsibility as an athlete and public figure seriously and am committed to using my platform to create positive change. I am proud to partner with Athlete Ally to continue the fight for equal opportunity in sport and in life.”
“Layshia is a strong athlete, a person of faith, and an advocate who is passionate about promoting respect and inclusion in sport and beyond,” said Hudson Taylor, Founder and Executive Director of Athlete Ally. “We look forward to working with Layshia to continue our important work educating and activating athletic communities to lead on LGBT equality.
Clarendon joins more than 130 other Athlete Ally Pro Ambassadors, including nine other WNBA players — Jayne Appel, Karima Christmas, Lauren Jackson, Birann January, Erlana Larkins, Cappie Pondexter, Kristi Tolver, and Sharnee Zoll-Norman — to further equality and acceptance within athletic communities.
Read more about Clarendon here: http://www.athleteally.org/allies/layshia-clarendon/
Athlete Ally’s mission is to educate and activate athletic communities to eliminate homophobia and transphobia in sports and to exercise their leadership to champion LGBT equality. Founded in 2012, Athlete Ally has worked with the NBA, WNBA, and MLB on matters of respect and inclusion; led the Principle 6 campaign that convinced the International Olympic Committee to include sexual orientation in the non-discrimination clause of the Olympic Charter; and counts more than 100 college, professional, and Olympic athletes among its dedicated and active Ambassadors.