When the clock ticked down and the United States Women’s Soccer Team ended up victorious in the World Cup battle last night against Japan, TV viewers watched as standout player Abby Wambach rushed over the stands to lean up and kiss Sarah Huffman — her legal wife in all of America, it now turns out. It was a show of openness and emotion that could hardly be imagined just a few years ago. And perhaps most remarkably, it wasn’t rare this time.
Indeed, four members of the U.S. team — three players and a coach — are openly lesbian, making their tam one of the most out collection of athletes on the world stage: Coach Jillian Ellis, players Ali Krieger, Megan Rapinoe and Wambach are all out … as were at least a dozen more women who participated in this year’s tournament.
Certainly all of these women were out long before the Supreme Court’s decision last week, but it’s one of the positive consequences, I think, that it not only may increase instances of coming out, but doing so as legal spouses means something special. It’s a great step toward acceptance.
