You’ve probably seen the videos. Maybe it was a clip from a 2025 press conference or a grainy TikTok of her shooting hoops without a shirt. The comments sections are usually a mess. They’re filled with people asking the same thing over and over: is Brittney Griner transgender? It’s a question that has followed her since she was a teenager in Houston, long before she became an Olympic gold medalist or a household name due to her detention in Russia.
Honestly, it’s one of those internet rumors that just won’t die, no matter how many times the facts are laid out.
To give you the short answer right away: No, Brittney Griner is not transgender. She is a cisgender woman. She was born female, identifies as a woman, and has spent her entire life navigating a world that often struggles to categorize women who don't fit a very specific, traditional mold.
The Reality Behind the Rumors
If you’re looking for why these questions keep popping up, you have to look at the physical reality of a world-class athlete. Brittney Griner stands 6 feet 9 inches tall. That’s a massive height for anyone, but for a woman, it’s exceptionally rare. Along with that height comes a deep, baritone voice and a lean, muscular build.
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People see the height and hear the voice and their brains jump to a conclusion.
In her 2014 memoir In My Skin, Griner talked about this. She described being bullied in middle school, with kids literally shouting at her in the hallways that she must be a boy. It wasn't just kids, though. Even as an adult, she’s shared stories of being kicked out of women’s restrooms because people didn’t believe she belonged there.
Why her voice is so deep
There’s actually a pretty simple physiological explanation for her voice. Medical experts, including reports from UltraBB Medical Review in 2023, have noted that her vocal cords and thoracic cavity are naturally larger because of her 6'9" frame. It's basic physics. A larger instrument produces a deeper sound.
She once considered vocal coaching to "soften" her voice. Think about that for a second. Having to change the way you speak just so strangers feel more comfortable. Ultimately, she decided against it. In her 2024 book Coming Home, she was pretty blunt about it: she’s done apologizing for how she looks or sounds.
Why is Brittney Griner transgender a recurring search?
The internet is a weird place. When Griner was detained in Russia in 2022, the rumors went into overdrive. There were fake screenshots circulating of CNN "reporting" that Russian officials were demanding DNA tests. None of it was true.
More recently, in 2025, new viral clips surfaced. One showed her speaking courtside in a raw, unfiltered moment. Because her voice sounded even deeper without professional microphone leveling, the "is she trans" debate reignited on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter).
It basically comes down to three things:
- Height and Build: Standing nearly seven feet tall with a 7'4" wingspan.
- Gender Expression: Griner has always been open about her style. She prefers "menswear," often wears suits or jerseys, and has never been one for the "makeup and hair" requirements that some leagues used to push on female athletes.
- Misinformation: Clickbait YouTube videos with titles like "Doctor Exposes Griner" are everywhere. They use AI-generated thumbnails and "leaked" evidence that doesn't actually exist.
A Life of Being "Different"
Griner has been an open book about being a lesbian since 2013. She was the first openly gay athlete to sign an endorsement deal with Nike. But being "out" about her sexuality isn't the same thing as her gender identity.
She has consistently used she/her pronouns.
At Baylor University, she actually had to hide parts of herself. Her coach at the time, Kim Mulkey, reportedly told her to keep her personal life "behind closed doors" to protect the school's image. Imagine being one of the most dominant players in NCAA history—leading your team to a 40-0 season—and still feeling like you have to hide who you are.
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Facing the "Man" Accusations
There was a big stir when she posed for the ESPN Body Issue. She posed nude, showing off her tattoos and her flat-chested, athletic physique. Some people used those photos to claim she "didn't look like a woman."
Griner’s response? "That’s my body... I embrace the flatness."
It's a weird double standard. We celebrate male athletes for having "freakish" physical gifts—huge hands, massive height, incredible wingspans. But when a woman has those same gifts, the first instinct for many is to question her womanhood.
The 2022 Detention and Gender Myths
During her time in a Russian penal colony, there was a brief period where she was reportedly placed in a facility that had previously housed men. This sparked a whole new wave of "secret revealed" theories. In reality, it was a paperwork and logistics issue in a chaotic foreign prison system. Every reputable news outlet, from the New York Times to NPR, has confirmed her status as a woman throughout her career and legal battles.
Moving Forward and What to Know
The conversation around Brittney Griner is often less about her and more about our own discomfort with gender norms. If a woman is tall, strong, and has a deep voice, does that make her less of a woman? To Griner, the answer has always been a hard no.
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She’s currently playing for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA. She’s still dunking. She’s still blocking shots. And she’s still dealing with the same comments she heard in the 7th grade.
If you want to be a better-informed fan or just a decent human, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Trust Primary Sources: If you want to know how someone identifies, listen to them. Griner has written two books and given dozens of interviews. She has never identified as trans.
- Understand Biology is Diverse: Women come in all shapes, sizes, and hormone profiles.
- Check the Date: A lot of the "shocking reveals" you see on social media are recycled clips from years ago or AI-generated hoaxes.
The next time you see a "breaking news" video about her gender, remember that this is a woman who has been under a microscope for twenty years. If there were a "secret," it wouldn't be found in a 30-second TikTok clip. She’s just a 6'9" woman who is really, really good at basketball.
Next Steps for You
Check out her memoir Coming Home if you want the actual story of her life and her time in Russia. It gives a lot of context to why she is so defensive of her identity today. Also, if you’re interested in the science of it, look into how high-level female athletes often have physiological traits that differ from the "average" woman—it’s what makes them elite.