Che Flores becomes NBA's first openly nonbinary, trans referee

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Che Flores will become the NBA’s first openly nonbinary, transgender referee when the California native steps on to the court this season. 

In an interview with GQ published Monday, Flores recalled opening up to fellow officials at the NBA referees’ annual preseason meetings in Brooklyn, New York, last month. 

Referee Che Flores, #91, looks on during a game between the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat at FTX Arena on Dec. 6, 2022 in Miami. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

"One piece I was missing for myself was that no one knew how I identified," Flores told the outlet. "Being misgendered as she/her always just felt like a little jab in the gut." 

SAME FACE NEW PLACE AS NBA SEASON KICKS OFF

According to the National Basketball Referees Association, Flores first started in the NBA as a non-staff official during the 2021-22 season. Flores officiated 10 seasons in the WNBA and nearly a decade in the G League. 

A Cal State Northridge alum, Flores also served as a referee in the NCAA for 13 years, officiating the 2021 NCAA Women’s National Championship Game and the Women’s Final Four in 2019.

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone has words for referee Che Flores, #91, during the fourth quarter of the New York Knicks 106-103 win at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. (AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

"When I started refereeing, you had to look a certain way," Flores recalled in the interview. "This is the first time I’m comfortable expressing myself through my own fashion and not having to worry about it. I feel one hundred percent myself now."

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