I think, in a large way, it's, 'OK, you've knelt; you've made your point.' But I don't necessarily feel like that. I don't know what that looks like. Do I kneel forever? I don't know, probably not. But I think until I can feel like I'm being more effective in other ways, then this seems appropriate to me.
I have chosen to kneel because I simply cannot stand for the kind of oppression this country is allowing against its own people.
The kneeling and everything, I think it really only sort of solidifies who I am as a person and the things that I stand for.
I think people now - you know, a lot of athletes have come out and said, I would definitely accept, you know, a gay male athlete in the locker room and on my team.
There are plenty of sports teams that say they're very open and super accepting in the locker room. But are they really? Is it really a safe environment? Have they preset that environment to make these players feel comfortable for coming out? I don't think so because there's none out.
Homophobia in male sports is much stronger than in women's sports; the locker room environment is a lot different. It's going to be much more of a brave step, an earthshaking move, for a gay male athlete to come out.
We're a pretty strong bunch, and we have pretty lofty goals. For us, the manager is very important in a lot of ways, but also, we have a job to do, and that's to go out and win.
In female sports, if you're gay, most likely your team knows it pretty quickly. It's very open and widely supported. For males, it's not that way at all. It's sad.
With the national team, we have these fans, people love of us, people come up to us in our cities, and they're like, 'We love you - what are you doing in Seattle?' And I'm like, 'I live here, and I've played here for the last five years.'
I'm a pretty open book, so not being out publicly felt inauthentic. Hopefully we can get to a point where your personal life isn't anybody else's business, but until then, it's less about people having to know about your sexuality than standing up for what's right and fighting for equality.
For this group, because we have so many big personalities, I think the manager also has to have a big personality but in a way that sort of knows how to deal with everything.
Honestly, I feel like we are a walking protest. The fact that we're women professional athletes says that in and of itself. We've been feeling the inequality; we've been struggling with pay equality or whatever it is, or sexism in sports.
We need a more substantive conversation around race relations and the way people of color are treated.
I think our team kind of strives on weirdness sometimes. We have that 'rah-rah, rally' sort of American mentality that we can all kind of get around.
I'm totally obsessed with Tilda Swinton. She has this strange, beautiful sexiness about her. I love everything she does. And I love her hair. It was a little bit of an inspiration for mine.
Even before I came out, looking at me, I've probably looked a little gay. I had short hair, and, you know, it wasn't a huge surprise to people. But some athletes have this image to uphold and may feel like sponsors won't want them if they're gay.
The climate is much different for men. That stigma is only going to be broken when people come out and see that there is a positive response. That doesn't mean there will be no negative response, but if people can have the courage to be one of the first, which is very hard, those barriers can be broken down very quickly.
My mom, whether it's right or wrong, she had dreams for me to have a certain life. It takes time to get used to that. But they've been really supportive, and they love me for exactly who I am.
We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.
I think there's a lot of gay women in sports, and it's widely known in the team; they can live a pretty open lifestyle without being open in the media.
