First Step

Welcome to First Step, a video series featuring athletes engaging the communities most affected by today’s social issues, from education and unemployment, to child hunger and homelessness among LGBTQ youth. In this seventh installment, Seattle Reign FC midfielder Megan Rapinoe takes a first step to help the LGBTQ community in Seattle.

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My family is very supportive of me, and for me to just take all that and enjoy all those privileges is very selfish. There are LGBTQ people that are struggling everyday just to stay alive — just to live and be happy with who they are.

Living in Seattle, it’s a comfortable narrative for people to say that homeless youth want to be homeless. There are kids who have been kicked out of their homes, kids that come from broken homes or kids that have dealt with abuse in their homes. There’s plenty of support out there for you if you can’t get that support from your family. It’s really important to have people who are like you and understand what you’re going through without having to explain it.

I think the first step to fixing the discrimination is by listening to the stories and being open-minded about what it is these LGBTQ members are struggling with. Community and love and care and compassion are things that everybody needs, I think.