Who Is Megan Rapinoe's Girlfriend? New Details On Soccer Star's Relationship With WNBA Player Sue Bird
The soccer legend is teamed up with a WNBA star.
Instagram All eyes are on the US Women’s National Soccer Team as they play at the World Cup in France. This week, the team scored an unprecedented 13 goals in a single game to advance against Thailand. Team captain Megan Rapinoe is a legend among soccer players, with multiple World Cup and Olympic goals under her belt. But to WNBA star Sue Bird, Rapinoe is her girlfriend, and the woman who takes up more than her share of closet space. The two have been a couple since 2016 and moved in together in Seattle in 2018.
Who is Megan Rapinoe's girlfriend? Read on for details.
1. Megan Rapinoe
Megan Rapinoe grew up in California and started playing soccer at a young age. Instead of playing on her high school team, she opted for club play before going to to play for the University of Portland in Oregon. Her college soccer career was nearly sidetracked there by an ACL injury but she recovered and was eventually chosen second overall in the 2009 WPS draft. She is currently playing on her third World Cup team, and she was one of the goal scorers in the record 13-0 win over Thailand on June 11.
Rapinoe is a soccer legend.
2. Sue Bird
Sue Bird has an equally exceptional sports record, having been the New York State high school basketball player of the year before deciding to go play at University of Connecticut. Like Rapinoe, she suffered an ACL injury in college but bounced back and and made it to the Final Four in 2001. In 2002, she was the first overall pick of the WNBA draft and went to play in Seattle, where she continues to be on the roster. She has also played un US National teams including at the Olympics in 2004, 2012, and 2016.
Bird is a star in the WNBA.
3. Coming out
Rapinoe went public about being gay in 2012, when she told Out magazine that while she had never been asked directly, she was indeed gay. She mused on the subject, saying: “I think they were trying to be respectful and that it’s my job to say, ‘I’m gay.’ Which I am. For the record: I am gay.” Bird has been more reticent about sharing her personal life. In 2017, she told ESPN W: “I’m gay. Megan’s my girlfriend. These aren’t secrets to people who know me. I don’t feel like I’ve not lived my life. I think people have this assumption that if you’re not talking about it, you must be hiding it, like it’s this secret. That was never the case for me.”
4. Together
The couple actually met at the 2016 Olympics, according to the Seattle Times. They started dating after that and eventually moved in together in Seattle. They continue to live there.
They live in Seattle.
5. The Body Issue
In 2019, Bird and Rapinoe made history as the first openly gay couple to appear together in the ESPN The Body Issue and Rapinoe was the first openly gay woman to be featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Rapinoe says that she did the photo shoot as a way of dispelling stereotypes about LGBTQ+ people, telling OUT Sports: “I think our view is still way too narrow of gay people in general. Stereotypes still very much persist and they are just such incomplete views of who we really are as people, so I think for that reason it’s really important to just continue to push those boundaries.”
Bird agrees that the two of them are helping move the conversation about LGBTQ+ acceptance forward, telling AdWeek, “Ten years from now, we’ll still be talked about as the first gay couple that ESPN had in The Body Issue. You might not realize, in the moment, the impact that something like that can have. Every now and then, when you talk to people and hear the reactions, maybe we helped somebody. But, really, with anything, it’s always about breaking down that first barrier and then have it be the norm—and I think you want that in any walk of life.”
They were featured on the ESPN Body Issue in 2019.
6. Role models
The two women have been outspoken on causes related to promoting the rights of LGBTQ+ people and they are coming to be seen as role models in both the queer community and in sports. “At the end of the day, Sue’s coming out and Megan being so open (about her sexuality) it’s not the impact within their leagues (that’s most noteworthy), it’s the courage they inspire in those kids who’ve been told they’re straight all their lives and are still trying to find their way,” Cyd Zeigler, founder of OutSports.com, told the Seattle Times.
The pair are role models and advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.
Rapinoe will continue to compete in the 2019 World Cup with all of America, and Bird in particular, rooting for a tournament victory.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.