Tag Archives: LGBT soccer players

US Women’s National Soccer Player ‘Drops Out Of game’ Over Pride Jerseys

The US women’s national soccer team recently announced that in recognition of Pride Month, a special kit with rainbows would be worn in away friendlies against Sweden on June 8, and Norway three days later.

Following the decision, Jaelene Hinkle dropped out of the friendlies for “personal reasons”.

She has not publicly commented to confirm the reason for dropping out, with an official statement, but the 24-year-old defender has been an outspoken opponent of LGBT equality.

When the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, Hinkle posted a message on Instagram criticizing the decision and the LGBT community’s use of the rainbow as a symbol. She also posted the marriage equality logo reworked into a cross.

She wrote;

“I believe with every fiber in my body that what was written 2,000 years ago in the Bible is undoubtedly true. It’s not a fictional book. It’s not a pick and choose what you want to believe. You either believe it, or you don’t. This world may change, but Christ and His Word NEVER will. My heart is that as Christians we don’t begin to throw a tantrum over what has been brought into law today, but we become that much more loving. That through our love, the lost, rejected, and abandoned find Christ.”

If she has a problem with the LGBT community, Hinkle may have a problem with her head coach, Jill Ellis, who is openly gay and lives with her wife, Betsy Stephenson, and their daughter Lily.

U.S. Soccer teamed up with the You Can Play Project on the Pride jerseys.

The men’s team wore them last week in a match-up against Venezuela, though one of the players skipped the game, regardless of their personal religious convictions.

Women’s Football Players Subjected To Homophobic Chants In Rio

Earlier this week US women’s soccer players said they were told by Brazilians on the side-lines that crowds had chanted the homophobic slur usually reserved for men’s football games in the country, reports the LA Times.

The chant surfaced during the Australia-Canada match as well, in which at least four players identify publicly as LGBT.

Speaking to the LA Times, US midfielder Megan Rapinoe called the chant “personally hurtful”, after being told by a stretcher crew what the Portuguese word “bicha” meant.

She went on to say that a “mob mentality takes over”.

Rapinoe is out as a lesbian like US coach Jill Ellis, and said that she didn’t “think they mean it in that way”, but she added that they “need to understand how it’s taken”.

What does that say to players who are struggling to come out?”

FIFA has struggled to curb the use of words like “bicha” and “puto”, a similar phrase used by other Latin American fans.

The use of “bicha” by fans in men’s matches isn’t new. However, it’s a bit odd for the slur to surface in women’s matches, as it’s a term aimed at men.

A video was released by FIFA in June showing national team players begging fans to stop using the term.

Rapinoe said she wasn’t sure whether sanctions on fans using the chants would be effective, but that a conversation needs to be opened up on “racism, to homophobia, to sexism”.

I don’t think that all Brazilians fans or everyone that was there last night is homophobic. But I think that they are complicit in it as long as they’re doing it. FIFA can crack down as much as they want but it’s up to individuals in the stands to not participate in that kind of behavior.”