Megan Rapinoe

“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.”

“Some people play best when they're frustrated and mad. I play my best when I'm happy. I really, truly do.”

“I've always been a risk taker. Growing up, I had a lot of freedom and room to roam and do what I wanted, and I think that's a huge part of my game.”

“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.”

“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.”

“For this group, because we have so many big personalities, I think the manager also has to have a big personality but in a way that sort of knows how to deal with everything.”

“I've gotten a lot more disciplined since dating Sue.”

“You have someone like Colin or many of the other athletes who have knelt, especially athletes of colour, and if you're not respecting what they're saying, if you're not believing their charges of police brutality or racial inequality, you're saying that they're lying.”

“I'm a pretty open book, so not being out publicly felt inauthentic. Hopefully we can get to a point where your personal life isn't anybody else's business, but until then, it's less about people having to know about your sexuality than standing up for what's right and fighting for equality.”

“It's frustrating sometimes: as an athlete, you're thrust into the spotlight, and you know, I think this team has always done a really amazing job of understanding that we have this incredible platform; let's do something good with it.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Obviously to be on this team, to be able to represent my country and have the platform that I do, I'm incredibly grateful for it.”

“The one-v-ones and stuff, that's a special skill in and of itself. That's the sizzle. Fans love that.”

“I just think gay men are looked at much less favorably than gay women. If you look at the overall stereotype, lesbians are sexy, and gay men are disgusting. Girl and girl is fine, and guy and guy seems to just be something completely different.”

“I do wish, when I was younger, that I knew that I was gay. It would have made things a lot clearer for me. Really. Looking back on it, it was so obvious, but it never really dawned on me. Socially, I felt like I didn't know how to be and who to be. If I had known back then, it would have given me more self-confidence.”

“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.”

“I think more people are engaged in the issues I want to talk about.”

“I've had to learn how to listen to my body over the years and figure out how it all works together. I'm not invincible, so focusing on training my whole body and injury prevention have been extremely important.”

“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.”