I think, bottom line, I have to be good enough to make the team. I have to bring something in and beat somebody else out, especially with a smaller roster for the Olympics.
— Megan Rapinoe
As I got more into gay rights, I got more into equal pay, and you just see that it's all connected. You can't really speak out on one thing and not another without it not being the full picture.
The climate is much different for men. 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.
For the record, I am gay.
The kneeling and everything, I think it really only sort of solidifies who I am as a person and the things that I stand for.
I take playing for my country very seriously. It's a huge honor.
I have chosen to kneel because I simply cannot stand for the kind of oppression this country is allowing against its own people.
I feel in my heart it is right to continue to kneel during the national anthem, and I will do whatever I can to be part of the solution.
We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.
We didn't lose a game at home for two years. What are we missing? We have the product on the field. We're exciting.
With the national team, we have these fans, people love of us, people come up to us in our cities, and they're like, 'We love you - what are you doing in Seattle?' And I'm like, 'I live here, and I've played here for the last five years.'
I'm totally obsessed with Tilda Swinton. She has this strange, beautiful sexiness about her. I love everything she does. And I love her hair. It was a little bit of an inspiration for mine.
I don't think there's any perfect way to protest.
Sometimes when you date people, you end up breaking up, and if teammates are mature enough to deal with that, then it's okay. I never want to bring any undue drama to the team.
Our team, in general, is in a position where people look up to us, and kids look up to us. I embrace that, and I think I have a huge LGBT following. I think it's pretty cool, the opportunity that I have, especially in sports. There's really not that many out athletes. It's important to be out and to live my life that way.
I think I have unique qualities that other people don't have that can contribute to the team.
To say I am not mentally tired in ways and exhausted in ways would be a lie.
When I take a knee, I am facing the flag with my full body, staring straight into the heart of our country's ultimate symbol of freedom - because I believe it is my responsibility, just as it is yours, to ensure that freedom is afforded to everyone in this country.
We need a more substantive conversation around race relations and the way people of color are treated.
I think, in a large way, it's, 'OK, you've knelt; you've made your point.' But I don't necessarily feel like that. I don't know what that looks like. Do I kneel forever? I don't know, probably not. But I think until I can feel like I'm being more effective in other ways, then this seems appropriate to me.
I've gotten a lot more disciplined since dating Sue.
The more I've been able to learn about gay rights and equal pay and gender equity and racial inequality, the more that it all intersects. You can't really pick it apart. It's all intertwined.
It's really obvious that we have very serious inequality in this country across many different spectrums. Yes, we can talk about the form of protest or the way it's done or this or that. But it's still not really the conversation that I think we desperately need to have more of in this country.
My mom, whether it's right or wrong, she had dreams for me to have a certain life. It takes time to get used to that. But they've been really supportive, and they love me for exactly who I am.
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.
Being a woman, we talk about equal pay all the time. We're not talking about if you're black or if you are Latina. I would like to get back to that and improving the relationship between the police community and the community of color. I don't know exactly all the right things to say, but I want to engage in that conversation.
We're gracious and we're humble, and we play the game a certain way, whether we win or lose.
I can understand if you think that I'm disrespecting the flag by kneeling, but it is because of my utmost respect for the flag and the promise it represents that I have chosen to demonstrate in this way.
Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties.
I think more people are engaged in the issues I want to talk about.
I think the national team is more like a traveling circus. It's hard to get that translation into the NWSL teams.
