Olympian Megan Rapinoe says that
finding support among her teammates allowed her to be herself.
Rapinoe publicly announced that she's
gay shortly before heading to the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she
scored three goals and four assists for the U.S. women's soccer team.
She was among the fewer than two dozen openly gay athletes to
compete in the summer games that year.
Rapinoe talked coming out during a
roundtable conversation hosted by The
Players' Tribune. Also participating were retired soccer
players Carmelina Moscato and Lori Lindsey, and Rapinoe's sister,
Rachel Rapinoe.
“When I came out publicly a few years
ago, there weren’t a lot of out athletes – male or female,”
Rapinoe said. “There still aren’t, which is kind of surprising.
I think people feel isolated and alone. They’re worried about
putting themselves out there. But for me, that isolation ended a long
time ago. It ended because of you guys, and my other friends in this
sport. I have my people, and they understand me. That’s all I’ve
wanted since I was the weirdo in sixth grade. I’d trade any number
of World Cups for that.”
The 30-year-old Rapinoe is an advocate
for numerous LGBT groups, including the Gay,
Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Athlete
Ally.