Who is Quinn? First Ever Transgender Non-binary Footballer at FIFA World Cup
History was made in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup when Canadian midfielder Quinn became the first non-binary and transgender person ever to make an appearance in a women’s or men’s World Cup game, where they played a whole 90 minutes during the 0-0 draw against Nigeria last week.
Meet Quinn, the first out transgender, non-binary athlete to play FIFA
The 27-year-old has already been decorated with a gold medal for their nation, won by Canada during the Tokyo Olympics which took place in 2021 summer after being delayed due to the COVID-19 situation.
Quinn had been very enthusiastic about football ever since they were a child and had discarded every other after-school co-curriculars to only focus on this one sport.
As a child from a sporting family, with their father and mother being college rugby and basketball players, respectively, they received immense support from them since childhood.
As an interesting fact, Quinn was also enrolled as a student of biology major at the prestigious Duke University in North Carolina apart from football. And before they headed for college, they had played youth level competitions for Richmond Hill, Toronto Lady Lynx in 2013, North Toronto and Erin Mills Eagles.
During their time at the University, they had played for Duke Blue Devils where they made about 69 appearances and scoring four times within her time from 2013 and 2017. They turned to professional football after graduation and signed for the Washington Spirit back in 2018.
Canada’s Quinn becomes first ever transgender football to play world cup
After a short run in France with Paris FC, Quinn transferred to OL Reign in 2019 in Seattle. There they had the opportunity to play alongside US Women’s national team legends like Rose Lavelle and Megan Rapinoe.
Quinn went on to finally make their debut for the Canadian National Team’s under-17s back in 2012 and later played for the under-20s and then under-23s. Later they graduated to the senior squad of Canada in 2014 and made 89 appearances, scoring five goals, along with being awarded the bronze medal during the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Quinn opted for gender-neutral pronouns back in 2020 and became known as her mononym the same year after coming out as a non-binary and transgender person. Their permission to continue playing as a part of the women’s national team professional due her sex-assigned-at-birth.
“I want to be visible figure for young trans folks or people questioning their gender..,” stated Quinn about her decision to come out of the closet.
