Over the past several years, women’s leagues like the NWSL and WNBA have set a sterling example for the rest of sports to emulate when it comes to LGBTQ inclusion and representation.

This week, Quinn of the NWSL’s OL Reign became their league’s latest trailblazer by publicly coming out as transgender.

Quinn, who is also a member of the Canadian Women’s National Team and a 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, made the announcement on their Instagram feed.

View this post on Instagram

Coming out is HARD ( and kinda bs). I know for me it’s something I’ll be doing over again for the rest of my life. As I’ve lived as an openly trans person with the people I love most for many years, I did always wonder when I’d come out publicly. Instagram is a weird space. I wanted to encapsulate the feelings I had towards my trans identity in one post but that’s really not why anyone is on here, including myself. So INSTEAD I want to be visible to queer folx who don’t see people like them on their feed. I know it saved my life years ago. I want to challenge cis folks ( if you don’t know what cis means, that’s probably you!!!) to be better allies. It’s a process, and i know it won’t be perfect, but if I can encourage you to start then it’s something. 1) put your pronouns in your bio 2) follow/ listen to other trans/nb voices ( @janetmock , @ashleemariepreston , @alokvmenon to name a few :)) 3) practice using gender neutral pronouns with friends/ in a mirror 4) vote 5) start to catch yourself making assumptions about people in public/ bathrooms/ any space

A post shared by Quinny (@thequinny5) on

As their heartfelt caption indicates, Quinn knew that their announcement would immediately make them one of the most well-known transgender people in the world of sports. With that realization, they immediately used their platform for activism to uplift the transgender community and “challenge cis folks…to be better allies.”

Of particular note, two requests Quinn made of cis allies were to “put your pronouns in your bio” and “practice using gender neutral pronouns with friends in a mirror.” As Quinn is using “they/them,” it’s understandable why this is so important.

We’ve known for a few years that Quinn was out as a member of the LGBTQ community. They were one of 40 out players in the 2019 Women’s World Cup and had previously posted LGBTQ-themed Instagram pics as early as 2017.

However, this is the first time Quinn has publicly announced that they are transgender. Now that the world knows, it’s also clear that they will be one of pro sports’ most prominent voices advocating for transgender rights.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this report deadnamed Quinn in the headline, story and URL. We’ve removed those references and offer our sincere regrets to Quinn for this error.

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