Briana Scurry has lived a trailblazing life, from her youth soccer days as the only Black player on her team, to being the only openly gay player on the US women’s national team at the time, to now being the first Black women’s goalkeeper in the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
As a result, the two-time Olympic gold medalist is also a role model for many and shared a message of inclusion at the start of Pride Month.
“Especially with Pride, inclusion is so important and being an ally,” she said on the most recent edition of The Call Up with co-hosts Susannah Collins and Jillian Sakovits.
“I feel more strongly than ever about the importance of allies, the importance of feeling like you are included, whether it's a process at work, at school, in your communities, everybody wants to belong and everybody wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves and to be heard. I think Pride is the greatest testament to that exact thing."
Janelly Farias, an American-born Mexican international shared her coming-out story on a previous edition of The Call Up, with the hopes her personal journey can help ease the journey of millions of others who are dealing with similar issues.
“They’re not alone, there’s millions of us who go through these things, who we are has so much value and they shouldn’t try to change for anyone or anything,” Farias said.
“Love is truly unconditional and love always wins, the people who really matter, they’re going to be there. Maybe they might not understand in the beginning, but in the long time, with time, they're going to be there. I think when you truly love yourself and you’re so confident in who you are, the people around you can’t help but feed off of that.”
USWNT star Ali Krieger has long used her platform as an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Krieger has been married to USWNT goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris since 2019. The couple announced the adoption of their daughter, Sloane, last year.
She, too, shared a message to LGBTQ youth who may feel anxious about coming out on The Call Up.
"I really feel like it's so important that we have people who are in this world who are individuals who really live their authentic life and inspire other people to want to do the same," said Krieger, who's also a NJ/NY Gotham FC defender.
"And I hope that with Ash and I now with our daughter Sloane that we've helped save some people from thinking they can't have a happy ending and that they possibly don't deserve that, and maybe through watching us living our authentic life that they feel like they can have great things too and that they deserve great things because of who they are and just because of who they love and what they love.”
