“I feel happy about it and about myself and that’s most important” Daria Kasatkina opens up on the reactions to her coming out of the closet


“I feel happy about it and about myself and that’s most important” Daria Kasatkina opens up on the reactions to her coming out of the closet

Daria Kasatkina

Daria Kasatkina is a Russian professional tennis player. She is presently the top singles player in Russia. Towards the end of the 2018 season, she entered the WTA rankings for the first time in the top ten. She has won one doubles championship and four singles titles on the WTA Tour. At age six, Kasatkina took up tennis at the urging of her older brother.

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The current world No 12 came out as gay in an interview with Russian blogger Vitya Kravchenko. Kasatkina, who is not currently based in Russia also posted pictures on Instagram with her girlfriend, the figure skater Natalia Zabiiako. She has also spoken against the attitudes toward homosexuality and LGBTQ+ rights in Russia.

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“I’ve just heard very good things” Daria Kasatkina on the reactions to her disclosing her sexuality

Daria Kasatkina and Natalia Zabiiako
Daria Kasatkina and Natalia Zabiiako

In an interview last month, Daria Kasatkina, who had previously been described as bisexual, publicly admitted to being gay. Kasatkina felt confident in accepting her actual self at a time when her country is turning away from people who identify as such. Despite being legal, homosexuality is nevertheless a very divisive topic in Russia.

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Additionally, because people encounter bigotry every day, it typically offers very little protection against it. All of that didn’t matter to Kasatkina, who was glad to bring attention to the topic by revealing her relationship with a woman in a recent interview. She is pleased with the overwhelmingly favorable response she received both domestically and internationally to her coming out:

“I don’t know how the social media filter works, but I’ve just heard very good things. Not just from the west but also people from my country. I’m really happy about it. As I saw, it was not just a good thing for me, also it helped other people. That’s great and I feel great. I feel happy about it and about myself and that’s most important.”

She signed off by saying, “Yeah, I feel more free and happy. I think I made the right step. With the situation in the world, all this stuff that is tough, when if not now? Let’s put everything into the same pool.”

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