Megan Rapinoe Says She Lost Brand Deal After AI Software Flagged Her Trans Allyship as "Risk"https://www.them.us/politics/megan-rapinoe-ai-trans-athletes 🔗Quispe López (14 July 2026)
Women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe has long been an advocate for transgender inclusion in sports — and neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor AI-driven censorship can stop her.
In a July 13 op-ed for Marie Claire condemning anti-trans legislation passed under the guise of "protecting girls," Rapinoe detailed a situation in which a brand allegedly pulled her from a World Cup advertisement after AI software used to highlight the "risk" of potential talent flagged the FIFA World Cup Champion. "Mine was that I spoke in support of trans rights," she wrote.
"Anti-inclusion politicians have made the conversation around trans athletes in sports so muddied and full of false fearmongering that brands lacking moral clarity are running from mere association," Rapinoe added.
"The truth is, trans people have been competing in sports for decades, and will continue to participate as this smoke screen from bad faith legislators and anti-LGBT groups cloak the real damage being done," she wrote. "As with so many other manufactured issues we fall for, women and girls will suffer the most."
