Stephen Curry Encourages Everyone To Unite To Close The Gender Pay Gap: “The Pay Gap Is Sending The Wrong Message To Women About Who They Are”

Stephen Curry admits, women’s equality has become a “little more personal” and a “little more real” for him lately.

On Sunday, in commemoration of Women’s Equality Day, Curry penned a heartfelt essay titled, “This Is Personal,” for The Players’ Tribune. As a father of two daughters, Riley and Ryan and a son, Canon, the three-time NBA champion says he wants his daughters to grow up in a world where there are no boundaries set to their dreams.

“With Ayesha and I suddenly seeing things through the eyes of [our] daughters…you know, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the idea of women’s equality has become a little more personal for me,” he wrote. “I want our girls to grow up knowing that there are no boundaries that can be placed on their futures, period. I want them to grow up in a world where their gender does not feel like a rulebook for what they should think, or be, or do. And I want them to grow up believing that they can dream big, and strive for careers where they’ll be treated fairly. And of course: paid equally.”

Curry went on to express the importance of everyone — not just “fathers of daughters” — coming together to eradicate the gender pay gap that continues to exist in America.

“Not just as ‘fathers of daughters,’ or for those sorts of reasons. And not just on Women’s Equality Day. Every day—that’s when we need to be working to close the pay gap in this country,” he wrote. “Because every day is when the pay gap is affecting women. And every day is when the pay gap is sending the wrong message to women about who they are, and how they’re valued, and what they can or cannot become.”

In addition to contributing to a better future for all women, Curry also added that raising his son, Canon, has also been on the top of his mind.

“I already know, just based on his gender alone, that Canon will probably have advantages in life that his sisters can only dream of,” the 30-year-old wrote. “How do you make honest sense of that as a parent? What are the values, in this moment, to instill in a son? It’s a lot to think about. But in the end … I think the answer is pretty simple…I think you teach him to always stay listening to women, to always stay believing in women, and — when it comes to anyone’s expectations for women — to always stay challenging the idea of what’s right.”

“And I think you let him know that, for his generation, to be a true supporter of women’s equality — it’s not enough anymore to be learning about it,” Curry added.