USWNT, Canada make dual statement in support of gender equality and 'trans joy'

U.S. women's national team players took the field for their SheBelieves Cup opener on Thursday sporting white and purple tape around their wrists, a dual statement of solidarity with their Canadian opponents and with transgender people in general.

The purple tape was worn "in the name of gender equality," the USWNT players' association said in a pregame statement, and was a nod to Canadian players' ongoing battle with their soccer federation over budget cuts and inequities. Canada's players also wore purple "as a symbol of protest," they said.

The white tape carried a three-word message: "DEFEND TRANS JOY." The message was sent in Florida, a state that is attempting to ban gender-affirming care for minors, and one of several states nationwide that have enacted laws targeting transgender rights — in sports and in society more broadly.

The USWNT's message was reminiscent of a similar one sent last February during a game in Texas. Shortly after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter saying that gender-confirming care should be investigated as child abuse, several U.S. players wore wristbands that read: "Protect Trans Kids."

"To deny gender-affirming resources to trans kids and to threaten their parents and guardians with claims of child abuse is MONSTROUS," captain Becky Sauerbrunn wrote on Twitter at the time.

The issue remained on their minds a year later, ahead of games in Florida and Texas.

"The inclusion of trans kids in sports is the inclusion of kids in sports," forward Alex Morgan said last week. "Everyone should have the ability to play sport. And the fact that it's being taken into politics, so big, is really sad. And I think it's at the cost of trans kids' lives."

Sauerbrunn also published an op-ed in the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader earlier this month to advocate for the inclusion of trans girls and women in sports. "Since I started playing soccer, I’ve faced countless challenges to gender equity in sport, from pay disparity to unsafe working conditions," she wrote. "I can assure you that playing with or against transgender women and girls is not a threat to women’s sports."

Canadian players also wore the white tape around their left wrists, with the purple tape around their right wrists. And they took the field prior to the game with their warmup tops inside out, to hide the Canadian Soccer Association's logo.

The Canadian players have threatened to strike as their battle with the CSA, commonly known as Canada Soccer, got ugly last week. They are furious that, roughly six months before the 2023 Womens World Cup, the CSA slashed the team's funding. The players say the budget cuts have left them with a smaller staff, fewer training sessions and an underserved youth development system, all of which have "compromised" their World Cup preparations.

Those acute concerns have also bled into broader frustration with how Canadian soccer is governed and how the CSA has treated its women's and men's teams inequitably.

U.S. players have been vocal in solidarity with the Canadian players throughout the week. The USWNTPA added to that support a little over an hour before kickoff on Thursday.

"Although we are now on the other side of this fight and can focus on our play on the field," the U.S. players' union wrote in its statement, referencing its successful fight for equal pay and treatment, "our counterparts in Canada and elsewhere are experiencing the same pervasive misogyny and unequal treatment that we faced.

"We stand with all women's footballers in calling attention to their collective fight, but also call on everyone to join and support the fight to eradicate ALL inequality and discrimination that exists in our sport."