WNBA player Layshia Clarendon has revealed that they underwent “top surgery” to remove their breasts.
Clarendon, a New York Liberty shooting guard who identifies as transgender and non-binary, took to Instagram on Friday to share the news of their surgery.
Clarendon shared a post-surgery photo with their more than 26,000 followers on Instagram. The WNBA star revealed that they underwent a successful breast removal surgery on January 13, 2021.
“It’s hard to put into words the feeling of seeing my chest for the first time free of breasts, seeing my chest the way I’ve always seen it, and feeling a sense of gender euphoria as opposed to gender dysphoria,” Clarendon wrote. “Sighhhh…freedom… freedom at last. ”
Clarendon wants to start a conversation about trans people in sports
Clarendon explained that at first, they felt hesitant to publicly share the news of their top surgery because of the “amount of hate, myths & ignorance surrounding Trans and Non Binary people’s existence.”
But they decided to share it because they wanted “Trans people to know and see that we’ve always existed & no one can erase us!”
“I want people to remember that my freedom is your freedom because none of us are free until we are all free!!!” Clarendon wrote on Instagram.
A source told TMZ that Layshia decided to go public because they wanted to start a “very real, inclusive, sensitive conversation about how to INCLUDE trans people in sports, instead of how to exclude them.”
The WNBA and The New York Liberty show support
The WNBA, WNBPA, and The New York Liberty have expressed their support for Clarendon.
Layshia, a 2017 All-Star, was a 1st-round pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft.
Monsters and Critics reported late last year that Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page also came out as transgender.
Clarendon’s wife Jessica gave birth to their baby in December
The latest development comes after Clarendon and their wife Jessica Dolan welcomed their first baby in December.
The couple announced their baby’s birth on Instagram but they did not reveal the baby’s name and sex.
Clarendon and Jessica tied the knot in 2017.
What is non-binary?
Clarendon identifies as non-binary. This means the player does not identify exclusively with one gender.
According to TMZ, Clarendon does not identify as a man despite completing their top surgery. Although the player does not identify exclusively with one gender, they are comfortable with being publicly referred to as a woman.
“Layshia does not identify as a man. They’re not journeying to a destination. Gender is actually a spectrum,” a source close to Clarendon told TMZ.
Non-binary simply refers to a spectrum of gender identities not exclusively masculine or feminine.
Some individuals identify as having more than one gender, while some identity as having a third gender that isn’t masculine or feminine.
Others are genderfluid or genderless.