By Annie Grayer
World Cup champion, US soccer player and longtime equal pay advocate Megan Rapinoe highlighted the ongoing inequities and discrimination women face when it comes to compensation and sports as part of her testimony Wednesday before Congress.
“What we’ve learned, and what we continue to learn, is that there is no level of status — and there’s no accomplishment or power — that will protect you from the clutches of inequity,” Rapinoe said during a hearing in the House Oversight Committee meant to explore the systemic inequalities that have led to women to continue to be underpaid. “One cannot simply outperform inequality or be excellent enough to escape discrimination of any kind.”
Listing out the ways she and her teammates are still not treated on par with their male counterparts despite their numerous accolades on the world stage, Rapinoe said, “If it can happen to us, and it can happen to me, with the brightest light shining on us at all times, it can and it does happen to every person who is marginalized by gender.”
Rapinoe also spoke at the White House on Wednesday at an event hosted by the President and first lady to mark Equal Pay Day.
