Why Megan Rapinoe’s retirement matters for trans soccer players

Soccer icon Megan Rapinoe announced on July 8 that this World Cup, which kicked off Thursday, would be her last, marking the end of an era for women’s soccer. It could also be bad news for transgender athletes, who have found a vocal and powerful ally in the former U.S. women’s co-captain.

Rapinoe, arguably the biggest name in women’s soccer, not to mention one of the most well-known professional athletes in the world, has used her platform to staunchly advocate for greater fairness and inclusion in the game.

Rapinoe’s ability to exert pressure on FIFA and the efficacy of her policy advocacy is arguably on a timer of sorts.

She was one of five women soccer players to successfully sue the U.S. Soccer Federation for equal pay, winning the landmark case in February of last year. Rapinoe has also been using her platform to fight for the inclusion of trans athletes — a particularly relevant issue in this moment, as FIFA is in the midst of reviewing its policy on transgender players while legislative attacks on trans people persist across the country, of which sports is a focal point. 

Now Rapinoe’s ability to exert pressure on FIFA and the efficacy of her policy advocacy are arguably on a timer of sorts, as her influence and perceived relevance in the game will likely lessen after her retirement. 

Women’s soccer has become synonymous with the fight for inclusion, particularly regarding feminism and queerness. “[It has] historical roots in challenging gender norms and embracing diversity,” said Stefan Lawrence, a Leeds Beckett University senior lecturer in sport business management, in a Time interview published Wednesday. “As a sport that emerged as a form of resistance against societal expectations, women’s soccer attracted people who were more open-minded. This inclusive environment created a space where ‘out’ players felt supported and valued, fostering a culture of acceptance and diversity within the sport.” 

Nearly 12% of players in this year’s women’s World Cup openly identify as queer, nonbinary, bisexual or lesbian. This is a significant statistic, all the more so when compared with the last men’s World Cup, which had no openly out players. And this is to say nothing of the sport’s enormous queer fanbase.

Suffice it to say that denying trans athletes the ability to compete spits in the face of what women’s soccer has come to mean to both players and fans, evincing the huge disconnect between the FIFA federation, which appears to be struggling with the issue, and those who make the sport.

The irony, too, of those against the change, particularly those within soccer governing bodies, which for so long institutionalized inequality (in the form of unequal pay, for example) suddenly claiming to protect women by objecting to the inclusion of trans athletes is not lost on Rapinoe. “It’s particularly frustrating when women’s sports is weaponized,” she said in a Time article published July 10. “Oh, now we care about fairness? Now we care about women’s sports? That’s total bulls—.”

First and foremost, banning trans athletes is anti-feminist and plays into gendered tropes. For starters, detractors rarely make any mention of or express concern about trans men, participating in sports — the obsession is with women’s sports, feeding into the trope that cisgender women are weak and in need of protection. In March, World Athletics banned trans women who’ve medically transitioned after male puberty from competing in the female classification, whereas trans men only need to produce a declaration that they identify as male (to be approved by the medical manager) in order to compete in the male classification. 

Some proponents of banning trans women athletes from competing argue that men pretending to be women will infiltrate sports to the detriment of cisgender women. 

Philosopher Judith Butler, whom I’ve quoted before and whose seminal work on gender theory helped define the discipline, said during a 2020 New Statesmen interview that these arguments are more about anxieties having to do with men, masculinity and domination: “It assumes that the penis is the threat, or that any person who has a penis who identifies as a woman is engaging in a base, deceitful and harmful form of disguise. This is a rich fantasy, and one that comes from powerful fears, but it does not describe a social reality.” 

Denying trans athletes the ability to compete spits in the face of what women’s soccer has come to mean to both players and fans.

This argument that a ban is for the protection of women is deeply perverse as, alongside anti-trans bills, we are also in the midst of legislative attacks on women in the form of banning or severely limiting access to reproductive care — to say nothing of patriarchal cultural norms, which are pervasively hostile toward women, through objectification, sexual violence and the gender pay gap, to name a few.

The suggestion that trans women have some kind of major advantage over cisgender women is also a fallacy. 

“A person’s genetic makeup and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance,” Dr. Joshua D. Safer, executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery and professor of medicine at Icahn School of Medicine, told the American Civil Liberties Union. “For a trans woman athlete who meets NCAA [National Collegiate Athletics Association] standards, there is no inherent reason why her physiological characteristics related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological characteristics of a nontransgender woman.”

Additionally, the idea that trans people have some kind of unfair advantage completely occludes the lived reality of trans people. The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey Report (the most recently published comprehensive survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality), noted that the majority of trans people were abused in school, including physical and sexual abuse, because they were trans — 17% had to leave school because it was so bad. And 30% of respondents reported discrimination at work, including being fired, because of being trans. Trans people also experience homelessness at much higher rates. On the whole, trans folks face enormous barriers to simply survive, let alone to become professional athletes. To say they have an unfair advantage is absurd. 

Trans athlete Andraya Yearwood told the American Civil Liberties Union that many of the cisgender girls who attempted to deny her the right to compete would perform at the same level or even better than transgender athletes. “One high jumper could be taller and have longer legs than another, but the other could have perfect form, and then do better,” she said. Adding, “One sprinter could have parents who spend so much money on personal training for their child, which in turn, would cause that child to run faster.” If we’re so concerned about unfair advantages, then one could make the case that we should ban athletes from rich families or with means from competing, or give them a sports handicap. 

As the ACLU notes, “Excluding women who are trans hurts all women. It invites gender policing that could subject any woman to invasive tests or accusations of being ‘too masculine’ or ‘too good’ at their sport to be a ‘real’ woman.” 

For instance, in the 2011 World Cup, the Swedish team members were subjected to having their genitals inspected by a doctor. Barbra Banda, the captain of the Zambian women’s soccer team, was banned last year from playing in the Women’s Africa Cup finals, accused of having high testosterone levels. While she’s permitted to play in this World Cup, she has been publicly scrutinized and humiliated.

And while this debate is about trans people assigned male at birth, it is worth noting there are already trans people playing soccer. Canadian soccer star, Quinn, is openly trans nonbinary, so debating whether or not trans athletes can be included in women’s soccer is also denying our current reality. 

As Rapinoe said, “We as a country are trying to legislate away people’s full humanity.” With any luck, her influence will help make FIFA honor the spirit of women’s soccer — and honor the people who make the game. 

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