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For months, fans of retired Washington Spirit soccer star Joanna Lohman have followed her journey virtually, as she’s traveled around the world, often alongside a woman she’s rarely named, other than to call her “the love of my life.”
This week, the “Rainbow Warrior” with the distinctive “Johawk” hairstyle posted a new photo to Instagram, with the hashtags #engayged and #shesaidyes, showing her hand clasping that of Melodie George.
George, a senior manager at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., is sporting a diamond engagement ring, and the picture is captioned: “Officially sunset chasers for life.”
The couple got engaged at the Bluebird Cottage at Oliver Creek Farm in Troy, Va, outside Charlottesville. From Lohman’s post on Instagram, it’s clearly appropriate for her to use the hashtag #holycow and #cowgirls, as the fiancées shared pics feeding cows on the farm.
This isn’t Lohman’s first engagement, but that seems like a lifetime ago. She thought of herself as straight until well into college, she told Outsports contributor Katelyn Best in 2018, and was engaged to a man by age 21. “Then I realized I had feelings for another woman.”
“I always say I got hit by the gay stick and came flying out of the closet,” Lohman said. ”From that point on, it wasn’t all roses and cotton candy, but I knew I was a lesbian, and I wanted to live that life authentically.”
In April 2019, Lohman announced her retirement from the Washington Spirit and the National Women’s Soccer League with a post on her personal Facebook page, accompanied by a photo declaring: “I’m retiring!”
At the time, she said she considered channeling her energy into sports diplomacy, speaking tours and maybe even running for office.
But it appears getting hitched is her new goal for 2020.
Photos of George started popping up in Lohman’s feed in December 2018, when she thanked a friend for snapping these Polaroids.
From there, followers watched as the couple’s relationship deepened and they traveled the world, snapping pics outside the White House and at Pride events in Washington, D.C. and New York City. Lohman also joined us in Los Angeles for Outsports Pride.
In August 2019, Lohman and George attended an historic Spirit game. Her former team recorded its largest attendance ever, and the arena’s Kiss-Cam recorded one of the first public videos of them together.
Within days of that game, Lohman was off to Nigeria, telling Outsports she traveled there to teach soccer to girls because “sport is a tremendous resource for them to change their future.”
The couple’s journeys have continued in recent weeks, to Mexico City, Toronto, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos just to name a few locales.
We wish Melodie and Joanna much happiness and more global adventures as they spread the message: #LoveIsLove
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