Casparij on LGBTI Rights: Emotional Support & Advocacy

Kerstin Casparij will be on the field with the Dutch team tonight in the practice match against Portugal and will want to show everyone how good she can play football. Just like she does for her club Manchester City, where she is now captain.

But the back of the Dutch national team and Manchester City also likes to make himself heard off the field, as a role model. As a lesbian woman, she likes to stand up for the rights of the LGBTI community.

“I am a lesbian myself and since this calendar year I have started to speak out a lot more. I have had reason to do so,” says the back, who has already scored two goals for City this season, a day before the friendly match against Portugal.

Casparij is referring to a ruling by the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom, which ruled earlier this year that the word ‘woman’ in a certain law refers to someone who was also born as a woman. As a result, trans women are not considered women in the context of that law.

As a role model for others, the defender started posting photos of herself with her girlfriend on social media. And she openly advocates for inclusivity in sports and safety for LGBTI people.

“I have noticed that there is a platform and that my voice is a bit louder than I initially thought. If I can use that for something good and I can help people with it, then I will always do that.”

She also wrote to the dating app Tinder, for example. She then met her beloved Ruth. Together they then played leading roles in an advertising campaign for the app that focused on the love between two women.

Nowadays Casparij is also an ambassador for the LGBT Foundation, where she contributes to the campaign Levelling the Playing Fieldfor equality.

And earlier this year, after a goal against Everton, she kissed a wristband with the colors of the trans community.

“That is the action to which I have had the most reactions. A lot of positive ones, by the way. Of course they are always of a negative nature, but it was quickly flooded with people who supported me. That was very nice to see.”

Should more football players express themselves like Casparij?

“Everyone does their own thing. One is a bit more introverted, the other a bit more extroverted. Some may not want that attention at all, that’s okay. It touches and makes me emotional, so I would like to do something with that.”