Even Lindsay’s best friend, who she calls a sister, hadn’t known she was trans. It was a secret she’d kept from everyone except her family.
“I just felt like when I posted it, whatever reaction I get from everyone, it does not matter,” Lindsay said. “And then my phone started blowing up.”
There’s no official record of NFL cheerleaders throughout history, but it seems Lindsay is the first trans person to be an NFL cheerleader, and she said she’s happy to “break down that door” for future trans athletes.
Chandalae Lanouette, the Topcats director, said Lindsay had noted on her application that she was transgender, but her talent, not her history-making, is what landed her on the squad.
“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 to that spot,” Lanouette said.
While NFL cheerleading squads have recently started to allow men on the rosters, there’s been little progression for the women. Most squads still gravitate toward an “all-American” look (read: white, thin, European standards of beauty), where the women are expected to perform like an athlete but look like a pin-up model.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/paigeskinner/justine-lindsay-nfl-first-trans-cheerleader
