Skip to footer

Gay women's soccer star joins Colin Kaepernick in anthem protest

American women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe took a knee during the national anthem on Sunday in support of 49er Colik Kaepernick. 'Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties,' she said.

  • By Chris Michaud Reuters

American women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe knelt during the U.S. national anthem at a Sunday match, calling it a deliberate move to support NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who stoked controversy by flouting the tradition of standing during the song.

"It was very intentional," Rapinoe told American Soccer Now following a match in Illinois between the Chicago Red Stars and her own team, the Seattle Reign.

"It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now."

Kaepernick, a San Francisco 49er quarterback, on Thursday carried on with his protest against racial injustice and police brutality before his team's Thursday game against the San Diego Chargers, by refusing to stand during The Star Spangles Banner.

A week earlier the athlete raised the ire of many fans when he remained seated through the anthem before his team's game against the Green Bay Packers, as Ben Rosen reported for The Christian Science Monitor:

Ever since Mr. Kaepernick began to commit this taboo form of protest [on Aug. 26], some athletes, fans, and columnists have said the 28-year-old is unpatriotic. But Kaepernick's protest may show a different type of patriotism, one that has become more popular among Millennials than many that came before them: loving your country enough to question it. 

Many Americans saw his gesture as a sign of disrespect to the flag and criticism was widespread, but Kaepernick has also been supported by some fellow players -- and now by Rapinoe.

"I think it's actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn't," Rapinoe said.

"Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties," she added.

Rapinoe said that while her gesture was "something small," she planned to continue doing it to "spark some meaningful conversation."

Kaepernick found a bit of support last week in a fellow teammate, as the Monitor reported on Friday:

It happened again Thursday, at the opening of the 49ers’ game against the San Diego Chargers, only this time, Mr. Kaepernick kneeled instead of sitting, and he was joined in silent protest by teammate Eric Reid. Further north, in Oakland, Seattle Seahawks’ Jeremy Lane offered solidarity by sitting on the bench during the national anthem....

Some who support the spirit of the protest, however, tire of words and would like to see more action to address the social challenges being highlighted. In tacit acknowledgment of this sentiment, Kaepernick said that while he plans to continue his protests as the regular season rumbles into gear, he also intends to donate $1 million 'to different organizations to help these communities and help these people.'

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Gay women's soccer star joins Colin Kaepernick in anthem protest
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0905/Gay-women-s-soccer-star-joins-Colin-Kaepernick-in-anthem-protest
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe