Prior to her final World Cup with the United States Women’s National Team, Megan Rapinoe once again used her platform to promote change. During a recent interview with TIME Magazine, Rapinoe had some very candid thoughts on transgender women playing in women’s sports, revealing that she would welcome a transgender woman playing for or against her soccer team.
And because of that, Rapinoe also took aim at the policies that are designed to keep transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams.
“We as a country are trying to legislate away people’s full humanity,” she says. Proponents of such laws often claim they’re protecting women’s sports. “It’s particularly frustrating when women’s sports is weaponized,” she says. “Oh, now we care about fairness? Now we care about women’s sports? That’s total bull****. And show me all the trans people who are nefariously taking advantage of being trans in sports. It’s just not happening.”
Rapinoe’s comments have since drawn the ire of those who are against transgender girls and women playing on female sports teams. Those like 1986 U.S. National Gymnastics gold medalist, Jennifer Sey, who mocked Rapinoe and laughed at the soccer star’s assertion.
Now retired, Sey was a seven-time member of the U.S. Women’s National Gymnastics Team and was the 1986 U.S. Women’s All-Around National Champion.
“I’m sorry, I have to collect myself,” Sey told Fox News Digital.
Sey then posed a question to Rapinoe, citing a 2017 exhibition match or “friendly” between the U.S. Women’s Soccer National team and the FC Dallas U-15 boys academy team. The U.S. Women lost 5-2 in a scrimmage that was a final tune-up for another friendly matchup against Russia.
“I guess I would ask her why in [2017] when the best women’s soccer team in the world lost to 15-year-old high school boys. Why was that? How did that happen?” Sey asked. “An average high school boys’ team. They lost—the best women’s soccer team in the world… There is an advantage. This is not trans bigotry. This is about girls and women.”
It’s fair to raise that question to Rapinoe, who almost certainly won’t respond considering she has a World Cup to worry about. At the same time, it should be noted that the FC Dallas U-15 boys Academy team is not an “average high school boys team.” They are one of the leading youth soccer clubs in the United States and have a long-tenured history of developing soccer players through their academy.
Despite a game that happened over six years ago, Rapinoe has made her point very clear, and it’s safe to say she’s never going to be quiet about it.
