Korbin Albert: A contrarian view sneaks into the US women’s national soccer team

The United States women’s soccer team (USWNT) is a benchmark for activism in a country where it has traditionally been frowned upon for athletes to speak about political issues. During Donald Trump’s administration, many players were openly critical of the president, and then-captain Megan Rapinoe said she would not go to the White House if the team won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Trump wrote on X ( then Twitter) that she “should WIN first before she talks!” And that’s what they did. The USWNT won the World Cup and Rapinoe was awarded the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot awards.

In the four years since then, the team has remained active in debates relating to gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. But recently a contrarian voice has emerged within the team that has put in check the progressive image it strives to project. Korbin Albert, a 20-year-old player who sympathizes with the most conservative tendencies, is a talented midfielder who plays for Paris Saint-Germain and has become an important figure in her country’s national team. Her political inclinations have been trickling through on her social media accounts: in March she was singled out for giving a Like to a video from a Christian sermon that described being gay and “feeling transgender” as wrong.

The USWNT has made constant calls to protect transgender youth. The players have worn rainbow bracelets during Pride Month and carried charms with the legend “Protect trans children” at a game in Texas in 2022, the year in which the governor of that state, the Republican Greg Abbott, described gender transition care as “child abuse” under state law.

Korbin Albert disagrees with her team’s views. While her teammates took a stand to support trans youth, the Illinois player shared a video on July 4 of her family members taking turns saying that their pronouns are “USA,” in mockery of people who identify with non-binary pronouns. Albert deleted the video a few days later. More recently, she was part of the mob that liked and shared several TikTok videos mocking Megan Rapinoe’s injury, which led to her retirement last November. One of the videos reproduced the play with the text “God taking time off performing miracles to make sure Megan Rapinoe sprains her ankle in her final ever game.” Albert later deleted this activity from her accounts.

Rapinoe did not remain silent. On her Instagram story she posted: “For people who want to hide behind ‘my beliefs’ I would just ask one question, are you making any type of space safer, more inclusive, more whole, any semblance of better, bringing the best out of anyone?” The former captain confirmed to The Athletic, a sports journalism website, that her remarks were in response to Albert’s mockery. Homophobic posts and attacks against Rapinoe have turned the young player into an enemy at home. The USWNT captain, Lindsey Horan, and veteran player Alex Morgan have also publicly expressed their rejection of Albert’s behavior. The pressure led Albert to publish an official apology at the end of March in which she described her posts as “offensive, insensitive and hurtful.” “I want to sincerely apologize for my actions on social media,” Albert wrote on her Instagram story. “Liking and sharing posts that are offensive, insensitive and hurtful was immature and disrespectful which was never my intent.”

Lately, her social activity has been much more discreet, but her posts are flooded with comments with the hashtag #IstandwithKorb urging her not to give in to those who want to silence her. Albert is trying to turn the page, but, whether she likes it or not, she has become a new symbol of the culture wars in the United States.

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