Pride in Progress: Who Gets to Be Seen on the Pitch
- Karinna Leonard
- 23 hours ago
- 6 min read
As June comes to a close, Pride Month offers an opportunity to celebrate progress while recognizing the work that remains. Sports remind us why visibility matters, and few communities demonstrate that better than soccer.
Around the world, LGBTQIA+ athletes have increasingly found spaces to compete openly, particularly in women's soccer, where authenticity has become a defining part of the sport's culture. At the same time, many players in the men's game continue to face barriers that make coming out seem impossible. This contrast presents a powerful paradox. While soccer has become one of the most inclusive major sports in some respects, it also highlights how far there is still to go before every athlete feels equally safe to be themselves.
Women's soccer has helped pioneer a culture of openness, proving that success and self-expression can exist together. Players continue to show that being open about who they are does not diminish their talent. Instead, it strengthens the sense of community that makes the sport so powerful. Yet the scarcity of openly LGBTQ men in professional soccer serves as a reminder that visibility is still uneven across the game.
Rather than having their identities define them, players such as Sam Kerr, Kristie Mewis, Tobin Heath, and Christen Press are celebrated first for their accomplishments on the field while also being open about who they are off it. Their relationships are not treated as controversial but as a normal part of their lives, reflecting how visibility in the women’s game has evolved from groundbreaking to simply accepted.
Perhaps no moment captures that shift better than the now-famous "They're lesbians, Stacey" meme. After the United States defeated Australia to win the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, USWNT midfielder Kristie Mewis embraced Australian captain Sam Kerr on the field. One social media user commented, "Friendship has no boundaries. Win or lose, friends are still friends." Another replied, "They're lesbians, Stacey."
The exchange quickly became one of the sport's most recognizable memes, because it highlighted how ordinary their relationship felt to many fans of women's soccer. Kerr and Mewis later married and recently welcomed their son, Jagger, further illustrating how LGBTQ athletes can live openly without their identities overshadowing their careers. Their story has become part of the broader culture of acceptance that defines much of the women’s game.
That same culture has also been seen in longtime USWNT stars Tobin Heath and Christen Press. While the pair kept much of their relationship private for years, they have become one of soccer's most beloved couples. Today, they host "The RE—CAP Show with Tobin Heath and Christen Press," offering fans an unfiltered look into women's soccer.
Their visibility, alongside players like Kerr and Mewis, has helped create a sport where young athletes can see successful professionals who refuse to choose between being themselves and pursuing their dreams. Representation is no longer limited to headlines or coming-out stories. It has become part of the everyday fabric of the game, where athletes are celebrated for their talent, their character, and the lives they build both on and off the pitch.
That is perhaps the greatest sign of progress. Visibility is no longer extraordinary. It is simply part of the game.
Unfortunately, that reality has not reached every corner of the sport. While women's soccer has become a model for LGBTQ inclusion, the men's game continues to lag behind. At the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, there were 96 publicly out LGBTQ players representing the 32 participating nations. At this year's FIFA Men's World Cup, there are again no publicly out LGBTQ players across the tournament's 48 teams. The disparity highlights just how differently visibility is experienced across the two sides of the sport.
In a recent interview, England women's captain Leah Williamson reflected on the barriers that still exist in men's soccer. Speaking to The Evening Standard, she said, "Would I encourage them to come out? How could I do that knowing what they would possibly face?...The world is changing but not quickly enough for those players."
That reality has also been evident throughout the 2026 FIFA World Cup. According to one analysis, only eight of the tournament's 1,248 players have publicly expressed support for LGBTQ rights. Among them is Australia's Jackson Irvine, one of the sport's most outspoken advocates for inclusion.
"In America, we're seeing more and more of the rights of [LGBTQIA+] communities...being taken away all over the country," Irvine said. "Decisions like awarding this peace prize [to President Trump] makes a mockery of what they're trying to do with the human rights charter and trying to use football as a global driving force for good and positive change in the world."
His comments highlight a much larger tension in the sport, where visibility remains something many players must carefully weigh against potential consequences, rather than something they can embrace without fear.
That tension is also reflected in wider debates around football and inclusion, from tournament policies to public backlash surrounding LGBTQ visibility at global events. Moments of controversy, such as disputes over symbolic inclusion campaigns at international fixtures, continue to show how uneven the landscape still is.
On June 26, during a Group G match in Seattle’s Pride Match Day, celebrations intended to highlight inclusion drew renewed attention online as Iran and Egypt prepared to face each other, two countries where same-sex relationships are criminalized. The contrast between the Pride-themed event and the global realities surrounding LGBTQ rights sparked discussion in the lead-up to kickoff.
In the end, the match itself was simply ninety minutes of football, played without incident. But the surrounding conversation revealed a familiar truth: in global soccer, inclusion is never experienced uniformly, and even symbolic gestures can reveal how divided the sport remains.
At the same time, there are still signs of progress within the sport. This year, Brooke Mayo became the first publicly out referee to officiate a FIFA men’s World Cup match, marking a meaningful step for visibility beyond just the players. While the focus is often on athletes, moments like this show that inclusion in soccer is slowly expanding across the game.
In Spain, Fénix FC became the first all-trans squad with federation status in Europe. The team overcame administrative hurdles and prejudice and now competes in the fifth tier of Catalan soccer.
Across the Atlantic, Minnesota Aurora FC, a women’s team in the USL W League, has also made waves for its commitment to inclusion. The club recently signed Isaac Ranson, a trans man who is barred from competing in the men’s division of the USL but has been given a safe place to continue playing at Aurora.
Club president, Saara Hassoun, told the Minnesota Star Tribune, "Aurora believes that everyone deserves an opportunity to play soccer, and we are glad that we are able to provide a safe environment for Isaac to continue his stellar career."
Ranson hopes his presence can inspire others as he continues to play the game he loves. "I didn’t have a role model or someone to look up to growing up that looked like me or identified as I do," he said. "And I just think that’s super important. I want to be that person that little kids can look up to and think to themselves, ‘I don’t care if I look differently than everyone else or identify differently than everyone else, I can thrive in anything I put myself into.'"
As Pride Month comes to a close, soccer offers a clear reflection of both how far the sport has come and how far it still has to go. In the women’s game, visibility has become part of the fabric of the sport, where LGBTQ athletes are celebrated for both who they are and what they achieve on the pitch. In the men’s game and across much of global football, that same visibility is still rare, shaped by fear, silence, and uneven progress.
Yet across every level of the sport, from players to referees to clubs building inclusive spaces, there are signs that change is not only possible but already underway. Progress may not look the same everywhere, and it is not experienced equally, but it continues to move the game forward.
Edited by: Kelly Cassette