Megan Rapinoe: BBC deletes tweet asking if a ‘pink-haired lesbian’ can be a hero
Megan Rapinoe celebrates goal against France in Women’s World Cup (Getty)
The BBC is receiving criticism online for posting a tweet asking if lesbian US football star Megan Rapinoe can be “an American hero.”
The now-deleted tweet was entitled, “Megan Rapinoe: Can a pink-haired lesbian be an American hero?” and linked to a BBC article that calls Rapinoe a “polarising figure” who “inspires anger as well as adoration.”
The now-deleted BBC tweet.
“Someone actually typed this out and hit tweet! In 2019!” said Guardian journalist Chris Godfrey.
Another user said, “Can you try asking smarter, less obnoxious questions?”
Only a white man would ask this question
— Lesa Mitchell (@lesamitchell) July 13, 2019
Megan Rapinoe co-captained the World Cup winning US team
The article was written by Marianna Brady – not a white man. It begins, “She won the World Cup, was player of the tournament and top scorer, then stole the show at the ticker tape parade with both her swagger and her speech – but Megan Rapinoe is also a polarising figure who inspires anger as well as adoration. Why?”
“She’s been on talk shows and magazine covers, and children across America – girls and boys alike – are out practicing their football skills, dreaming of becoming the next Megan Rapinoe.
“But just a day after that triumph in France, while Rapinoe and her teammates were probably still partying, public posters of the star back in her homeland were being vandalised.
“Homophobic slurs were scrawled across them, and New York police say they are investigating a possible hate crime.”
https://twitter.com/LynnComella/status/1150180284211449858
Twitter user Karen Scott said, “Wake up BBC, Megan Rapinoe already IS an American hero – where have you been this past month?! And one other point, why in 2019, would Rapinoe’s sexual orientation (or hair colour) preclude her from being a hero? Look more at what she SAYS and DOES!”
https://twitter.com/Fwiz/status/1150205927158456322
University of California Berkeley history professor Bonnie Morris told the BBC, “Nobody knows what to do with Megan because she’s attractive, smart and a fantastic athlete.”
“She’s earned the right to present herself as capable, but still people don’t want to let her show pride,” Morris said.
https://twitter.com/OldSkinnyAss/status/1150182156146282497
