The groundbreaking online video series “Ballin’ Out,” presented by Outsports, follows several openly LGBTQ women in and around the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team.

Now several of them will compete for the USA at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

“This team going into the Paralympics has every chance to win a gold medal,” Stephanie Wheeler told Outsports. She should know. She won two Paralympic gold medals as a player and one as head coach for Team USA.

“When you think of successful teams, they’re fast, they have the ability to score in different ways, they can defend, they have experienced leaders and young players who are on the verge of changing the game, and they have great coaches. This team has everything it takes to win a gold medal.”

Out of the sidelines and into the game

Our weekly newsletter is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports topics.

Who are the openly gay, bisexual, lesbian and queer women who want to bring home a medal? Here are the openly gay women competing for the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

Josie Aslakson

Josie Aslakson may have become an openly LGBTQ athlete indirectly. She has not openly displayed her love or orientation.

Nevertheless, she is one of the main players in Outsports’ “Ballin’ Out” series.

Aslakson has been part of the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team for many years, competing in the 2018 World Championships and then winning a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Dubai.

She was also part of the bronze medal team at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics under coach Trooper Johnson. She was part of the group that revolted against Johnson, which led to him being replaced as head coach.

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Kaitlyn Eaton

Kaitlyn Eaton has been part of the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team for many years, although she took a break in 2023 due to health issues.

Although she was part of the U.S. team that won bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics, she was not included in the team for the 2023 World Championships due to health issues that she discusses in “Ballin’ Out.”

Now she’s back and wants to win her second Paralympic medal. This time she wants gold.

Eaton likes her nickname on the team: Squirrel.

Nicolette B.

Courtney Ryan is a star in the women’s wheelchair basketball scene. Before that, she was a successful athlete in women’s soccer. From 2008 to 2010, she played soccer for the Metro State Roadrunners, an NCAA Division II team. In her first season, the team made it to the NCAA Final Four.

In 2010, she suffered the life-changing injury.

“Twenty minutes into the game, I’m chasing the ball,” Ryan says in Ballin’ Out. “The defender tackles me from behind. My legs buckle. I land on my back.”

When she learned hours later in the hospital that she might have to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair, she said: “Grief turned to anger. This was not planned. This was not planned.”

Since she could no longer compete in Division II women’s soccer, she looked for another opportunity. That’s when she came across women’s wheelchair basketball.

Since then, she has won a bronze medal at both the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2023 World Championships.

Now she is leading Team USA to the Paralympics in Paris.

Desi Miller

Desi Miller is the coach of the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team. She was a member of the team that won the Paralympic gold medal in 2016 under head coach Stephanie Wheeler.

Now Miller is the team’s assistant coach.

She supports head coach Christina Schwab.

Both helped lead the team to a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2023 Parapan American Games.

Other non-Paralympic members of the US team at “Ballin’ Out”

The series “Ballin’ Out” features at least one other openly LGBTQ woman on the U.S. team and in its environment.

Mandy Willmore was a collegiate track and field athlete for South Dakota Mines before turning to disability sports. Since then, Willmore has decided to retire from competing for nationals.

Paris is not Dubai

When the 2023 World Championships were held in Dubai, there were concerns about being too visible as outed athletes and coaches.

“We were very hesitant about being humble and avoiding any cultural violations,” Ryan said of the World Championships in Dubai.

Coming out as an LGBTQ athlete in and around Paris is a different story entirely, as same-sex marriage and homosexual relationships have been legalized in France. Look out for women sharing their experiences on social media.

The entire “Ballin’ Out” series can be found on YouTube.