Megan Rapinoe: “Showing up, allowing people to exercise their right to vote and to be a part of the civic process is the most important thing in a democracy.” (Andy Mead/YCJ Photo)

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

It should come as no surprise, no surprise at all that Megan Rapinoe supported Major League Baseball’s decision to pull its all-star game out of Atlanta and that Georgia-based companies criticized the recent laws passed to revise voting process in the state.

The U.S. women’s national team standout felt that all Americans should be given the right the vote and should not have any obstacles thrown in the way.

Rapinoe has been an outspoken political activist through the years and her latest comments were sure to stir controversy on the right and the left.

“I think everybody has a responsibility to do whatever it is that they can to make the world a better place,” she said. “We’re talking specifically about these Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws in Georgia. I think companies that have influence in Georgia, whether it’s MLB or local companies or wherever, if you can … use your influence of a platform that you have, where you have black and brown players in your league, you have black and brown fans, the issue that we have with voter suppression in in this country, everybody and every business and everything should be at the disposal to make sure that we’re influencing those laws in the right. Ultimately, it’s all about people’s rights.”

Rapinoe, along with U.S. women’s national team teammates Crystal Dunn and Becky Sauerbrunn, spoke during a media Zoom session.

“Showing up, allowing people to exercise their right to vote and to be a part of the civic process is the most important thing in a democracy,” Rapinoe said. “So, this is extremely undemocratic and un-American by the ideals that we want to live by. Shout out to the to the MLB for making that step, I’m sure that was very difficult and financially I’m sure it has a lot of implications and politically for them. I’m sure it does as well but it draws a very clear line in the sand for a league. … It’s a really strong step from them.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.