Bianca Henninger who plays goalie for the Houston Dash of the National Women’s Soccer League and the Mexican national team, has come out publicly as LGBTQ.
“I’m comfortable with who I am, so I don’t have a problem saying it. I just didn’t feel like it was necessary,” Henninger told Houston’s Outsmart Magazine. “At the end of the day, though, you never know who you specifically are going to connect with. Maybe you’ll run into someone at a game or an appearance or in passing who, for whatever reason, is struggling with it and hasn’t connected with someone who is out, and it’ll make their process easier.
“People are here for you, and there is, without a single doubt in my mind, a place for you in this world—no matter what,” Henninger adds. “I feel like what’s going on in the world right now [sends the wrong message] to a lot of people, especially kids, that it’s not OK to be who they are. That’s how you lose people in this world, when they stop being who they are.”
The magazine says that Henninger is the third Dash player to be openly LGBTQ, joining defender Janine van Wyk and midfielder Meleana Shim. Henninger was born in California but her mother was born in Mexico, allowing her to play for the Mexican national team.
The Dash will hold its Pride night June 22 in a game against Portland.
