Katie Barnes (they/them/their) is an award winning journalist for espnW.com, espn.com and ESPN the Magazine, covering culture, LGBTQ issues, women’s basketball, collegiate softball and women’s combat sports.

Since joining ESPN in August 2015, Katie has written on myriad topics, such as transgender athletes, campus sexual assault, sports leagues incursion into public policy, racial justice, Hollywood stunt doubles, and whatever else their editor throws at them.

Katie studied American Studies, History, and Russian Studies at St. Olaf College, and Student Affairs in Higher Education at Miami University (OH), and thus believes that no degree is prophetic. A retired fanfiction writer, Katie now enjoys writing with their name attached, but wears their fandom as a badge of honor. Calzona is their OTP (though they have a soft spot for Clexa).

(If you’re confused, it’s okay, so are Katie’s parents).

In addition to espnW.com, you can find their work at Feministing.com, Outsports.com, Curvemag.com, Ebony.com, and MTV News.

Katie actually likes cornfields, and thinks there is nothing better than a summer night’s drive through the Indiana countryside. When not transcribing a mountain of interviews, you can usually find Katie hanging out with their partner and cats, Atticus and Zora, attempting to write for fun, or playing video games.