Cricket helped me come out as gay, says England’s Winfield-Hill
Cricket is more than a job to English champion Lauren Winfield-Hill – it’s also brought her love, acceptance and a sense of ease about her sexuality.
Winfield-Hill met her wife, Courtney, at Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League in 2015. The couple tied the knot in Australia’s picturesque Sunshine Coast in 2020 and Winfield-Hill publicly came out the same year. “The day we got married was the day I felt most comfortable with who I am and who I’ve chosen to be with,” Winfield-Hill, told Openly ahead of the Women’s Ashes, which begin on June 22. “I had all those people there and they were all so happy and excited for us.
It felt like it was then time to go wider with that.” Winfield-Hill is one of several LGBTQ+ women to have played for England, including Natalie Sciver-Brunt, who in 2022 married Katherine Sciver-Brunt – another World Cup winner who retired from international cricket last month.
While it’s been rare for male athletes to come out as LGBTQ+, women’s sport has historically proven to be a more liberal and accepting environment.
