Megan Rapinoe is a key part of the USA soccer (football to the rest of the world) team which is expected to challenge for the gold medal at the games, which start later this month.The 26-year-old midfielder, who plays for the Seattle Sounders, has now told national US media that, "for the record", she is gay.
It comes as in the male side of the sport there are still huge barriers between players and fans accepting people for being LGBT.
Rapinoe told Out magazine: "I feel like sports in general are still homophobic, in the sense that not a lot of people are out.
She added: “In female sports, if you’re gay, most likely your team knows it pretty quickly. It’s very open and widely supported. For males, it’s not that way at all. It’s sad.”
According to reports she has been dating her girlfriend, an Australian soccer player, for three years.
Rapinoe added she has never tried to hide the fact she was gay but had never been asked.
However, she did say that sport needed role models is the LGBT "stigma" was to be broken.
Talking about the issue further with USA Today, she said: "That stigma is only going to be broken when people come out and see that there is a positive response.
"That doesn't mean there will be no negative response, but if people can have the courage to be one of the first, which is very hard, those barriers can be broken down very quickly."
"Megan Rapinoe already has a huge following in the United States but her actions will only serve as an inspiration to tens of thousands of people across the globe.
"We hope that Rapinoe's actions will give a boost to other players and fans in the United States and abroad to see that it does not matter what your sexuality is, football is game for everyone."
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Great post thanks you!
ReplyDeleteThey're really doing great in the olympics, the team is really cool, thumbs up with their skills.
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Ashley | Soccer News