Most people know about the disparities between pay for men and women in sports. Because of how disparate this issue is in women’s soccer, Rapinoe has made it a point to fight for equal pay within the sport. She was at the forefront of filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation for pay discrimination. The two parties later reached an agreement to improve and bring parity to working conditions. In 2016 when Colin Kapernick began kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games to protest racial injustice, Rapinoe followed suit a week later and became known as the first well-known white athlete to kneel at a game. Her decision resulted in family tension and being taken off the team roster. She did not play again until April 2017. Rapinoe has also spoken out about the need for change in laws that deal with addicts. She is the first soccer player to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom. To the ceremony, she wore a suit embroidered with the letters BG in response to Brittney Griner’s unfair Russian imprisonment. President Biden said, “Megan is a champion for the essential American truth that everyone be treated with dignity and respect“.