At the Olympics in Paris, defender Tierna Davidson and midfielder Korbin Albert will play together for the United States as teammates. However, as Davidson discussed Tuesday on Good Game with Sarah Spain, that fact may not come easy for many in the American locker room.
That’s because Albert re-posted to social media a sermon stating being gay and “feeling transgender” were wrong in March of this year, for which she later apologized.
Tierna Davidson
Davidson is a lesbian, and the United States women’s soccer team has long prided itself on its LGBTQ inclusion. “I think that it’s difficult, because as a team we have always wanted to be very welcoming to all of our fans, to all players that walk through the locker room, and so to have that in our space is very difficult,” Davidson said via Steph Yang of The Athletic.
The Americans’ coach, Emma Hayes, indicated in June that she had been working with Albert. “It was difficult for me when it first happened, and it’s been hard to hear how fans have been taking it because I feel like I want to be able to represent the queer community really well on this team,” Davidson said. “I want to have fans feel really welcome and feel like they can see themselves on this field in this team. I don’t want there to be any sort of feeling that they’re not welcome here. The United States is scheduled to open Olympic play on Thursday against Zambia.
U.S. women’s national team soccer player Korbin Albert appeared to ruffle feathers with her teammates over social media posts about the LGBTQIA+ community earlier this year.
One TikTok video she repost included a sermon that said being gay and “feeling transgender” is wrong, according to The Athletic. Another surfaced screenshot reportedly showed Albert liking an Instagram post mocking Megan Rapinoe’s injury accompanied by the statement, “God taking time off performing miracles to make sure Megan Rapinoe sprains her ankle in her final ever game.”
Albert is set to compete for Team USA in the Paris Olympics. Tierna Davidson spoke out about Albert’s posts days before the Americans play Zambia in its opening Olympic match.
“It’s been difficult. It was difficult for me when it first happened, and it’s been hard to hear how fans have been taking it because I feel like I want to be able to represent the queer community really well on this team, and so I want to have fans feel really welcome and feel like they can see themselves on this field in this team, so I don’t want there to be any sort of feeling that they are not welcome here,” Davidson, who is gay, said on the “Good Game with Sarah Spain” podcast.
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“I think it’s a difficult situation that has obviously affected me personally given what she was speaking on,” Davidson continued. “I think that it is something you have to learn as a young player, especially with the platform that you’re given. Your beliefs, or how you choose to express certain things, is very public and people do look and listen. Whether or not it’s something that you grew up with, or it was instilled upon you from a young age, and you might not know better, it is something that can hurt other people.”
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