--- title: Megan Rapinoe Toasts Transgender Community at TIME’s Women of the Year Gala description: Megan Rapinoe spoke on how transgender rights in the U.S. are in a precarious place, with proposals that would roll back care and freedoms for trans people in many states. canonical: https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-03-09T10:30:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T00:12:55.902Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Megan Rapinoe Toasts Transgender Community at TIME’s Women of the Year Gala og:description: The athlete spoke about how transgender people should not be "left behind," as their rights in the U.S. are currently under threat og:url: https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Megan Rapinoe Toasts Transgender Community at TIME’s Women of the Year Gala og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Megan Rapinoe Toasts Transgender Community at TIME’s Women of the Year Gala twitter:description: The athlete spoke about how transgender people should not be "left behind," as their rights in the U.S. are currently under threat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- Mar 09, 2023 # Megan Rapinoe Dedicates Her TIME ‘Woman of the Year’ Honor to the Transgender Community ## Video: Megan Rapinoe's Toast at the 2023 TIME Women of the Year Gala [Watch (HLS stream): Megan Rapinoe's Toast at the 2023 TIME Women of the Year Gala](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/R20Ds2BZ.m3u8) (8:41)  _Published 2023-03-09. When Megan Rapinoe, two-time World Cup winner with the U.S. women’s national soccer team and outspoken advocate for equal pay and LGBTQ rights, spoke on Wednesday at TIME’s second annual Women of the Year gala in Los Angeles, she dedicated her place on this year’s list to the transgender community._ by [Mahita Gajanan / Los Angeles](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan / Los Angeles Gajanan is an editor at TIME.  Megan Rapinoe speaks during the TIME Women of the Year event at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on March 08. Megan Rapinoe speaks during the TIME Women of the Year event at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on March 08.Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME When [Megan Rapinoe](https://time.com/collection/women-of-the-year/6259147/megan-rapinoe-equal-pay-world-cup/ "undefined"), two-time [World Cup winner](https://time.com/5621626/us-womens-soccer-team-unapologetic-excellence-in-sports/ "undefined") with the [U.S. women’s national soccer team](https://time.com/athlete-of-the-year-2019-us-womens-soccer-team/ "undefined") and [outspoken advocate](https://time.com/5617529/megan-rapinoe-world-cup/ "undefined") for [equal pay and LGBTQ rights](https://time.com/6188583/megan-rapinoe-equal-pay-title-ix-transgender-sports-bans/ "undefined"), spoke on Wednesday at TIME’s [second annual Women of the Year gala](https://time.com/6261141/women-of-the-year-gala-2023-biggest-moments/ "undefined") in Los Angeles, she dedicated her place on [this year’s list](https://time.com/6259412/how-time-chose-women-of-the-year-2023/ "undefined") to the transgender community. “I am only here because of them,” Rapinoe told the room, which included other honorees and notable guests. “We all know what’s going on in our country with the attempted erasure of trans people.” Transgender rights in the U.S. are in a [precarious place](https://time.com/6146269/doctors-trans-youth-gender-affirming-care-harassment/ "undefined"), with [legislation proposed in many states](https://time.com/6258029/oklahoma-bill-could-restrict-drag-performances/ "undefined") that would roll back care and [freedoms](https://time.com/6176799/trans-sports-bans-conservative-movement/ "undefined") for transgender people. To date, about [300 anti-LGBTQ bills](https://glaad.org/releases/state-legislators-propose-300-anti-lgbtq-bills-glaad-releases-updated-reporter-guide "undefined") have been introduced at the state level throughout the country. In January, for example, Utah passed the first law [banning gender-affirming healthcare](https://time.com/6258586/utah-transgender-bill-essay/ "undefined") for transgender youth, effectively erasing the opportunity for young people to seek out hormone therapy and change their names and genders on their birth certificates. Speaking out against the spate of anti-transgender legislation and [increasing anti-transgender sentiment](https://time.com/6196617/trans-kids-texas-leave/ "undefined"), Rapinoe urged people to look at what transgender people have created for the world: “a way to live a whole life and to be a whole person, whatever that may mean to you.”  Megan Rapinoe speaks during the TIME Women of the Year event at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills on March 08.Kevin Mazur—Getty Images for TIME Rapinoe pointed out the perspective she’s gained from the transgender people in her own life. “The way they refuse to live their life any other way than completely whole is so inspiring. I’m inspired by the invitation to be completely myself. They offer us a full view of what it means to be a human in the world,” she said. “A whole opportunity to be the crazy ass human beings that we are. That’s a great gift.” Rapinoe acknowledged the challenges and pressures—”to shrink, to soften, to disappear”—that women have historically faced. “We’re required to hold so much all of the time. Either carry the world on your back or you’ll be left behind,” she said. But she also lamented that women seeking more for themselves haven’t always been inclusive: “White women have left Black women—and everyone else—behind. Straight women leave queer women behind.” “Let’s not be those kinds of people,” Rapinoe concluded. “Being a woman: make it expansive. Don’t ever leave anybody behind. … Let’s bring everyone in and figure the rest out from there.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/"},"headline":"Megan Rapinoe Toasts Transgender Community at TIME’s Women of the Year Gala","datePublished":"2023-03-09T10:30:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:12:55.902Z","description":"Megan Rapinoe spoke on how transgender rights in the U.S. are in a precarious place, with proposals that would roll back care and freedoms for trans people in many states.","url":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/","keywords":["womenoftheyear"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan / Los Angeles"}],"creator":"Mahita Gajanan / Los Angeles","articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/womenoftheyear/","name":"womenoftheyear"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/","name":"Megan Rapinoe Toasts Transgender Community at TIME’s Women of the Year Gala"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Megan Rapinoe's Toast at the 2023 TIME Women of the Year Gala","description":"When Megan Rapinoe, two-time World Cup winner with the U.S. women’s national soccer team and outspoken advocate for equal pay and LGBTQ rights, spoke on Wednesday at TIME’s second annual Women of the Year gala in Los Angeles, she dedicated her place on this year’s list to the transgender community.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/R20Ds2BZ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-03-09T06:38:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/R20Ds2BZ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/","duration":"PT8M41S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/women-of-the-year/6261271/megan-rapinoe-transgender-women-community/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```