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Watch: Canadian Soccer Player Rebecca Quinn Comes Out as Trans

by Kilian Melloy

EDGE Staff Reporter

Wednesday September 9, 2020

Rebecca Quinn, a member of Canada's national women's soccer team, publicly came out as trans in an Instagram post, Yahoo News reports.

In addition to coming out, Quinn offered some tips for cisgender allies.

View this post on Instagram

Coming out is HARD ( and kinda bs). I know for me it's something I'll be doing over again for the rest of my life. As I've lived as an openly trans person with the people I love most for many years, I did always wonder when I'd come out publicly. Instagram is a weird space. 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. So INSTEAD 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. I want to challenge cis folks ( if you don't know what cis means, that's probably you!!!) to be better allies. It's a process, and i know it won't be perfect, but if I can encourage you to start then it's something. 1) put your pronouns in your bio 2) follow/ listen to other trans/nb voices ( @janetmock , @ashleemariepreston , @alokvmenon to name a few :)) 3) practice using gender neutral pronouns with friends/ in a mirror 4) vote 5) start to catch yourself making assumptions about people in public/ bathrooms/ any space

A post shared by Quinny (@thequinny5) on

In a June 30 post, Quinn had announced that they would be participating in Playing for Pride, which they described as "a soccer campaign that happens in the month of June to help support Athlete Allies," an advocacy group for LGBTQ equality.

Quinn spoke passionately about viewing equality "with intersectional lenses, in order to better support Black members of our community," and explained that "racial rhetoric" is common in the sporting world, as are "transphobia and homophobia."

"An example of this is the policing of trans bodies," Quinn said. "It's really important to discuss this topic with an intersectional lens in order to better support Black trans athletes."

Yahoo Sports noted that Quinn, 25, "represented Canada at the 2019 World Cup and played on the 2016 Olympic team in Rio de Janeiro."

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.