One of Canada’s biggest soccer stars has come out as transgender, saying they use they/them pronouns and want to be a more visible presence for other queer people.
Quinn, who previously went by their first name but identifies themself on social media by their last name, came out as transgender on Instagram Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Toronto native says they’ve been out as transgender in their personal life for several years, but wanted to come out publicly.
“I wanted to encapsulate the feelings I had towards my trans identity in one post but that’s really not why anyone is on here, including myself,” they wrote.
“I want to be visible to queer folx who don’t see people like them on their feed. I know it saved my life years ago.”
Quinn has been a member of Canada’s women’s national soccer team since 2013. They were part of the bronze-medal winning team at the 2016 Rio Olympics and played in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and have five goals in international competition.
They currently play professional soccer for Reign FC in the National Women’s Soccer League and the Swedish soccer club Vittsjö GIK.
In their Instagram post, they shared advice for cisgender people on how to be better allies to trans and non-binary communities.
They suggested people put their pronouns in social media profiles, make an effort to follow trans and non-binary voices like Janet Mock and Alok Vaid-Menon, practice using gender-neutral pronouns, vote and catch themselves before making assumptions about people.
“It’s a process, and I know it won’t be perfect, but if I can encourage you to start then it’s something,” Quinn wrote.
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