Megan Rapinoe talks about coming out as gay in this ESPN the Magzine Body Issue shoot video and how she balances her masculine and feminine sides.
Inside the magazine she shares some fun facts about herself. Here are some you might enjoy:
The girls call me Gumby because I’m gangly. I’m not super muscular or super fast or super strong. And that’s definitely for a reason. In soccer you don’t have to be the biggest, strongest or the fastest — it’s a lot about how you understand the game and how your brain works with your body.I think it’s kind of awkward when everyone knows you’re gay but you don’t say it. I had been thinking about coming out for almost a year before I did. I thought about it seriously on the plane ride home from the World Cup, while I was casually talking to my friend Lori Lindsey. She said, “Dude, you should just come out.” She was right. Everyone in my life already knew. If you want to stand up and fight for equal rights but then won’t even stand up for yourself and say “I’m gay” — that just started to feel weird.
I felt more like a tomboy growing up, and then I got some boobs. And those didn’t feel right on my body. They were kind of big, and I was like, “I don’t know about this. This is weird.” I think that’s one of the areas where even now if I don’t train a lot I’ll get a little bigger, and that’s something that I’m a little self-conscious of. Other than that I’ve always been pretty comfortable with my body.
It’s all just society-driven. Especially for a woman. It’s like you have to have a certain kind of body, or you need these kinds of hips, and that’s annoying.
Check out the entire issue on stands July 14.
