The talented and confident
29-year-old came out in the same Instagram post revealing she had been hired!
A newly hired
dancer just became the first openly transgender cheerleader for the NFL.
Justine
Lindsay took to Instagram last month to share some exciting news — she had
auditioned to join the TopCats, the cheerleading squad backing the Carolina
Panthers. In the same post, she also came out as trans.
It was a bold
move, considering the 29-year-old wasn’t even out to her closest friends. The
only people that knew were her family, and the people who reviewed her
application for the TopCats.
“My goal is to
create a team of individuals that are absolute fire on the field but are
incredible human beings in the locker room, good friends, good people, and at
the end of the day, you have to walk through the door first to get that spot,”
TopCats director Chandalae Lanouette told Buzzfeed.
Coming out at
such a pivotal time in her life was something Lindsay said scared her, but she
ultimately decided that “whatever reaction I get from everyone, it does not matter.”
A recent interview with Buzzfeed brought Lindsay
and the community some much-need visibility, but it also resulted in the usual
suspects of transphobic trolls wasting everyone’s time with their tired
harassment. Lindsay kept her cool with her claws retracted, though, as she
deftly and kindly shut them down. And the support from her friends, teammates,
and allies in the public seems stronger than ever.
Lindsay also
made a point to thank Lanouette in particular for “taking that leap of faith”
in hiring her and called joining the TopCats a “dream come true.”
While no
official record of NFL cheerleaders throughout time exists, this is believed to
be the first time an openly trans cheerleader has been hired for one of the
squads.
“This is big.
I think more people need to see this,” Lindsay said. “It’s not because I want
recognition. It’s just to shed light on what’s going on in the world.”
SOURCE: PRIDE DOT COM
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