U.S women's soccer national team player Megan Rapinoe: "I am gay"

U.S. women's soccer team player Megan Rapinoe, right, told Out Magazine that she is gay. (Rich Lam/Getty Images)

U.S. women's soccer player Megan Rapinoe, a midfielder who helped lead the national team to the finals of last summer's World Cup and will play in this summer's London Olympics, confirmed to Out Magazine that she is gay.

“I feel like sports in general are still homophobic, in the sense that not a lot of people are out,” she told the magazine. “I feel everyone is really craving [for] people to come out. People want -- they need -- to see that there are people like me playing soccer for the good ol’ U.S. of A.”

Rapinoe, 27, said she didn't try to hide her sexual preference. People just never asked her. “I think they were trying to be respectful," Rapinoe said, "and that it’s my job to say, ‘I’m gay.’ Which I am. For the record: I am gay." Rapinoe said she has been dating an Australian soccer player for three years.

Rapinoe said she thinks women's teams are more accepting of gay players than men's teams.

“In female sports, if you’re gay, most likely your team knows it pretty quickly,” Rapinoe said. “It’s very open and widely supported. For males, it’s not that way at all. It’s sad.”