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Megan Rapinoe and her girlfriend Sue Bird are turning heads with pictures from the October “beauty issue” of InStyle magazine.
It won’t hit newsstands until Sept. 20 but Twitter is already buzzing over the photo spread.
The magazine shows the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s co-captain and the Seattle Storm basketball player canoodle lovingly in various pants and blazers.
Powerhouse couple @mPinoe and @S10Bird are speaking up for what they’re worth and moving the ball forward for future generations of female athletes. The duo talks their relationship dynamic, fighting for equal pay, and what’s next in our October issue: https://t.co/LHaw1Ms4ur
— InStyle (@InStyle) September 5, 2019
Our friend Whitney Medworth of our partner site SB Nation is just one of many gushing over these pix.
The issue includes an interview about how they’re handling fame, the fight for equal pay and the story of how they met.
The two have been dating since Fall 2016 and moved in together in Fall 2018, but they first became aware of one another at the 2016 Rio Olympic Summer Games. InStyle writes:
“When the women’s soccer team failed to make the semifinals — Rapinoe was hampered by a knee injury — they used their free time to cheer on the U.S. basketball team, led by Bird.
“At an after-party celebrating the basketball team’s gold medal, ‘Sue’s friends say that she lingered around the table, but I didn’t really notice that too much,’ recalls Rapinoe with a big grin.”
The two eventually connected in Seattle, and last June they became the first same-sex couple ever to appear nude in ESPN’s Body Issue.
The report highlights how Rapinoe and Bird made headlines earlier this year, when Rapinoe’s disdain for U.S. President Donald Trump resulted in Trump criticizing her on Twitter. In response, Bird wrote an article entitled “So the President Fucking Hates My Girlfriend” which ended with her declaration of love for Rapinoe. Bird’s op-ed, Rapinoe said, left her in tears.
InStyle mentions Rapinoe’s joining of a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation for “tolerating a two-tiered, gender-based workplace, with its male soccer players enjoying better travel, superior playing conditions and even more food.”
“We’re sick and tired of being disrespected,” Rapinoe told InStyle. “It’s not even really about equal pay per se. It’s just what we’re worth and what is fair. It’s always being looked at as, ‘Oh, this is what you deserve, so you should be happy.’ Well, no one’s happy about it.”
InStyle also noted that Bird helped encourage USA Basketball to pay players to stay in the U.S. during the off-season and train for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, discouraging them from playing lucrative off-season matches in Russia and China.
The couple said their respective sports schedules leading up to the 2020 Olympics and the privacy they’re trying to maintain in light of their fame will keep them both busy, at least until the Games end.
To read more of Rapinoe and Bird’s interview with InStyle, and see photos of them in stylish blazers and tracksuits from big name designers, click here.
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