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Megan Rapinoe Speaks Before Congress About Equality In Sports

Megan Rapinoe, player with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, speaks as U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden listen during an event marking Equal Pay Day in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. The Biden administration has signaled plans to strengthen gender equity at a time when women in the U.S. are disproportionately exiting the workforce compared with men during the Covid-19 pandemic, and are paid about 82 cents on the dollar compared with men. Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Megan Rapinoe is continuing the fight for female equality and representation in sports.

The U.S. Women’s National Team star spoke before Congress on Wednesday about the disparities which still exist between men’s and women’s sports, specifically with salary and working conditions. Rapinoe spoke to members of the Congressional House Oversight Committee as a part of Equal Pay Day. Rapinoe argued that the true potential of women’s sports is not being realized due to a lack of investment in facilities, as well as in the players themselves. Rapinoe followed this video call with a meeting later in the day with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, along with other members of the national team.

Rapinoe is a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, winning in 2015 and 2019, and a gold medalist at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, all while playing for the USWNT. However, despite the team’s numerous achievements on the field, they are still paid less than members of the men’s team.

Rapinoe’s appearance before Congress also comes a few days after photos and videos were made public of the alarming inequality between the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments. The video showed a warehouse sized room of various weight training equipment for men’s teams, while women’s teams were provided with only a single rack of dumbbells. The NCAA has since made improvements to the women’s facilities, and have stated that they will be making a review of other issues pertaining to the resources allocated to the women’s tournament.

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Rapinoe pointed out that if gender discrimination through wages can occur for athletes on the highest stage, then it can happen to all women. She hopes that her testimony will help bolster the passing of legislation introduced earlier this month by Representatives Doris Matsui and Rosa DeLauro, which will dissolve the wage gap between the men’s and women’s national teams.