Thursday's Olympic gold medal win by the first transgender athlete was a historic moment, but also bittersweet.Quinn and the Canadian soccer team played a long match against Sweden. A tie result led to a penalty shootout in which Canada won. As intense debates about transgender athletes in athletics continue to rage in American schools and statehouses, more openly trans and nonbinary athletes have participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games.Quinn was the first transgender athlete to take part in the Olympics. This was after the International Olympic Committee made changes in 2004 to allow transgender athletes the right to compete in the Games. They were soon followed by other competitors in weightlifting, BMX racing and other sports later in the Games.According to Outsports, Quinn was one of 181 openly lesbian athletes who took part in the Tokyo Games. This is more than three times as many as those who took part in the Rio Games.Canada's gold medallists after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games women’s final football match. Credit: TIZIANA FABI / AFP via Getty ImagesQuinn said that they are proud to have their name on the soccer team roster. However, Quinn also revealed their identities on Instagram, just a day before the Tokyo Olympics started. "Quinn is proud to be on the roster and in my accreditation. It makes me sad to know that there were Olympians who could not live their truth due to the world," they wrote.Quinn participated in Rio Olympic Games 2016. They won a bronze medal with their team, but they weren’t done yet.Quinn revealed that they are trans in an Instagram post from September 2020. Quinn and her family have been friends for many years. However, Quinn decided to go online to support queer people on social media."Instagram can be a strange place. Quinn wrote that she wanted to express my feelings towards trans people in one post. "So I will instead be visible to queer people who don't see them on their feed. It saved my life many years ago.Quinn's achievement comes as transgender and nonbinary athletes like Laurel Hubbard, Olympic weightlifter, and Alana Smith, Olympic skateboarder, get more mainstream recognition due to their participation in the Games.SEE ALSO 3 useful tips to help you when you are planning to go onlineDespite the Olympic success for trans athletes, conservatives in the U.S. keep passing bills to prevent trans teens from participating on teams that are compatible with their gender.Annie Lieberman, the director of policy programs at Athlete Ally (an LGBTQ advocacy organization), stated that trans children are 25 percent less likely than their peers to commit suicide if they have access to gender-affirming spaces in school such as a locker room or a toilet.Quinn's gold Olympic medal is all the more meaningful because of the obstacles transgender athletes have to overcome in order to be on the teams that make their lives easier.
