--- 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: 2026-08-11T07:46:26.894Z 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/bltd21662e0caad1123/698a3af4457a525df4d6760e/megan-rapinoe-woty-event.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 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/bltd21662e0caad1123/698a3af4457a525df4d6760e/megan-rapinoe-woty-event.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Mar 09, 2023 # Megan Rapinoe Dedicates Her TIME ‘Woman of the Year’ Honor to the Transgender Community > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## 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](https://time.com/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/), two-time [World Cup winner](https://time.com/5621626/us-womens-soccer-team-unapologetic-excellence-in-sports/) with the [U.S. women’s national soccer team](https://time.com/athlete-of-the-year-2019-us-womens-soccer-team/) and [outspoken advocate](https://time.com/5617529/megan-rapinoe-world-cup/) for [equal pay and LGBTQ rights](https://time.com/6188583/megan-rapinoe-equal-pay-title-ix-transgender-sports-bans/), 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/) in Los Angeles, she dedicated her place on [this year’s list](https://time.com/6259412/how-time-chose-women-of-the-year-2023/) 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/), with [legislation proposed in many states](https://time.com/6258029/oklahoma-bill-could-restrict-drag-performances/) that would roll back care and [freedoms](https://time.com/6176799/trans-sports-bans-conservative-movement/) 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) 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/) 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/), 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.” ## Transcript Fucked up going after Angela Bassett in public you man, this is fucked up. Coming off black history month, right in the women's month. And I just feel like there was some undercutting here. Y'all deserve it, okay? I don't know. It's going to be like an intermission or is it like an appetizer? Like this is tell me what the fuck, what I did to your time. Came all the way from Seattle. Okay, D, B, I'm not doing comedy. She said it went very well. Is there a soccer ball? Can I just like boot? It's like this out of my element, obviously. I did not realize that was a lineup, I would have, I would have tried to change it. I'm going to, I'm going to eventually go together. That's what I was looking for. You just kidding. Yeah, I know. I did help. It did help. I do want to thank time for having us here and for including me in this is outrageous lineup of women. I don't even know how you begin to describe. What an honor it is for me. I'm just like like did you get the right person? Beyond honored to be even just in this room around these women in the same breath, just incredible. So, to all the women to time for doing this, and obviously, correcting, all of the very obvious wrongs for the last four thousand million centuries. Thank you, little bit late but we will take it. I also wanted to thank she's not here tonight. My partner Sue, she's made a mistake and has an event somewhere else so unfortunately scheduling tabs easy as a lot of ammo, she's devastated, but you're out there baby. I love you. I wish you were here, the other very most important woman in my life is just, she's actually right there. She's going to hate it but you're getting. Shout it out. So many women behind the scenes. I'm sure all the women in this room feel this way that actually make what I do possible. I feel like there could be so many women in my place, doing the very same thing and I would never be here without you. So I love you so much and thank you for everything. I feel like the Maya like gut feeling is just to be like, The room speaks for itself. I just want to sit the fuck down. That would be very easy to do especially who came before me. But I do want to say something and just take this moment before I do sit right down there where I belong right over there. I want to dedicate this but thank the trans community and just say that I am only here because of them and I think we all know what's going on in our country with really the tented genocide Erasure of trans people in our country and globally, but particularly in our country And I think so often we say like always shity, you know that's that's not right or we should do it because that's not right to do that trans people. But I think we need to look at it a little bit different way and just look at what trans people are giving us. is just an opportunity to Live in a whole life and to be a whole person, whatever that may mean to you. There's so much expansion just for myself that has happened in the last three or four or five years because of trans people because of the relationships that I have a trans before I play with Quinn. Who's the trans Athlete on my team? Jesse's wife is trans. And just a perspective that I have and what I've been given by them, not just our support to them but the way that they refuse to live their life, any other way than completely whole is so inspiring. I'm so thankful for the invitation to be my entire self. I feel like my office and I are like, I don't know what really is going on here. It's a lot but it's how I feel today. Coronavirus these pants are coming on. I just don't really don't know what's happening. They offer us like a, a full view of what it means to be a human in the world. I think, particularly for the women in this room You know, especially listening to you, Angela, how much of yourself you've been asked to leave behind, been forced to leave behind been asked to shrink been asked to soften, but as to just completely disappear, if you could just be like this, tiny version of yourself, then we'll accept you. That to me, I feel like is what trans people have given us to just give us the the whole opportunity to be this whole ass crazy human. Being that we are that everybody is in this room. That's a great gift. Something that I'm thankful for. I feel like so many women were just required to hold so much all of the time each of us in every single way, just that feeling of You either hold the fucking world on your back or you're just going to be left behind. white women have left black women behind And everyone else behind frankly straight, women leave gay, women behind, and queer women behind. Let's not be those kind of women. Like I'm be those kind of people. We never want to leave anyone behind. I think of being a woman has taught me, anything in this world is a make it expensive. Don't ever leave anybody behind and I think everyone in this room. The fact that we're even in this beautiful room in these for beautiful walls in this weird-ass outfit. That is expensive. You know, it may not look like it but it is. We're here, big fat Violet, my arms all the way up. I don't know what's going on, you know, it's short here. But this is the room where we can not only take on the responsibility but have the honor to Say, fuck you to those systems and those structures that leaves so many behind, and that leaves so much behind, so much creativity, and so much humanity and so much Beauty behind, that's my call message. I don't know, thing is like, let's be the people who bring everyone in and bring everything in and figure the rest out from there. 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