Life

NBA player recalls lessons his murdered transgender sister taught him

NBA player recalls lessons his murdered transgender sister taught him
NBA player Reggie Bullock said his murdered transgender sister taught him to be himself. Photo: Carlos Osorio / AP Photo

In a Friday interview on Fox’s “The Herd,” Detroit Piston’s forward Reggie Bullock shared some of the valuable life lessons he learned from his transgender sister before she was killed, Gay Star News notes.

Bullock said that his sister Mia Henderson, who was murdered in Baltimore in 2014, taught him not to care what other people think. In the interview, he used masculine pronouns and called Henderson his “brother.”

“He lived as himself, he taught me how to be [myself], he taught me how to take care of the family,” Bullock said. “He was happy with being who he was, he wasn’t worried about how others felt about him.”

The NBA player went on to acknowledge his sister’s strength, clearly drawing inspiration from her resilience.

“A person that can isolate the whole world out and not care about other people’s feelings is a strong person, to me,” Bullock said. “I think that was one of the biggest things that I got from him.”

And while the locker room may still be rife with sexist and transphobic jokes, Bullock says he doesn’t think it’s funny.

“I had a brother, a person who was close to me, who was that way, so never will I laugh,” Bullock explained. “He was just strong. That was pretty much the thing I got from him. He left with me that.”

After the interview, he continued to show love for his late sister on Twitter, where his bio includes the hashtag #RIPMIA.

Few people responded to the tweet, but all the comments were positive, with fans thanking Bullock for standing up for those more vulnerable.

One Tar Heels fan named Mike praised the University of North Carolina alum: “Amen. Everybody should be able to be who they want to be and be happy.”

Watch the full interview below.

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