"I didn't really know how well others would deal with the idea of Bryce having two moms, but I've decided if they have a problem with it, it's their problem, not mine," writes Sheehan.

"There are too many children in this world who don't have an equal chance in life and who aren't loved to worry about what other people think. We have the means to provide Bryce with a comfortable upbringing and, more importantly, we have the desire to be loving and devoted mothers....Bryce knows that she's loved and wanted now."

She also says, "I think there are a lot of men and women like me-people who spent much of their 20s and 30s devoting themselves to their careers, and put off starting a family until their 40s.

After years of believing we would make ideal parents-and having many of our friends and family tell us the same thing-it's been wonderful to finally take on this new challenge."

Sheehan, who is an 18-year veteran of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and inductee to the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1993, won the Nabisco Dinah Shore title in 1996, has twice won the U.S. Women's Open, and has more than 35 total career titles to date. "Patty Sheehan is breaking down barriers in sports and in society," said GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry.

"For a professional athlete to come out as a lesbian mom takes a great deal of courage. As a mother myself, I greatly appreciate her stance on this issue: Love is at the heart of parenting, and lesbian and gay people are as committed to that ideal as anyone. Her voice resonates to many thousands of fans, and she is sending an accurate, positive message about our community."

Please commend Patty Sheehan for her courage to step out of the closet and thank Golf World for providing her a forum in which to do it.

Contact:

Al Tays, Managing Editor, Golf World Magazine
5520 Park Ave.
Trumbull, CT 06611-3426
Fax: 203.373.7062

Patty Sheehan
c/o Rebecca Gaston
P.O. Box 11675,
Reno, NV 89510

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org

TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA Or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online.