United States Men's National Team captain Michael Bradley took to the pitch in Seattle Thursday night wearing a rainbow-colored arm back for his team's Copa America match against Ecuador. The arm band is in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack on the gay bar Pulse in Orlando early Sunday morning.
Bradley didn't just wear it for the pre-match ceremony but wore the captain's arm band throughout the match, as seen here on a first-half corner kick:
Earlier this week the USMNT released this video in support of the people affected by the mass shooting of LGBT people and their friends in Orlando:
In the last couple of years, some professional soccer players, particularly in England, have started wearing rainbow-colored laces in their cleats in support of the LGBT community.
It's crazy to me that places like Sports Illustrated are reporting about the rainbow band with no reference to the LGBT community. Why can't the sports world just say the words "gay" and "LGBT" in conjunction with the assault on our community in Orlando?
If a player in the NFL did what Bradley did, he'd face a fine of thousands of dollars. Here's hoping no such fine is awaiting Bradley post-match.
