Che Flores has made history as the first out transgender and nonbinary referee in U.S. professional sports, according to multiple reports.

The NBA official, who uses they/them pronouns, came out publicly in a story published by GQ on Monday ahead of the 2023-24 season.

“When I started refereeing, you had to look a certain way,” Flores told the outlet. “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.”

“One piece I was missing for myself was that no one knew how I identified,” they added. “Being misgendered as she/her always just felt like a little jab in the gut.” 

“I can go through the world and even my job a lot more comfortably,” they added in reference to their coming out.

Flores’ identity has been known to some NBA executives for several months, who came out to their colleagues at preseason meetings last month, the NBA reported. 

Flores, who is entering their second season as a staff referee, told GQ they’re proud younger queer kids will be able to see them working at such a high level.

“This is just to let young kids know that we can exist, we can be successful in all different ways. For me, that is most important—to just be a face that somebody can be like, ‘Oh, okay, that person exists. I think I can do that,’” they told the outlet.

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Flores graduated from Cal State Northridge and was a referee in the NCAA for 13 years. They officiated the Women’s Final Four in 2019 and the 2021 NCAA Women’s National Championship Game, according to Fox News.

“Once I was on the court, I fell in love with it,” they added. “I had no idea to what degree, but I do remember Violet Palmer being in the NBA and she was the only different one out of that entire staff. And that was some sort of glimmer of hope, like, Oh, is the NBA actually a destination?”

Flores went on to reflect on the feeling of seeing their name on the Jumbotron for the first time during referee announcements at a game in Denver. “I got a little emotional and I’m like, ‘Dude, get with it. You’re about to referee a game,’” they told the outlet.

Prior to the game, an announcer confirmed Flores’ name and pronouns, while players and coaches referred to them as Che for the first time. “It allowed me to be, I guess, free in a way,” Flores sid. “I was like, ‘All right, cool. I’m here.’”