Police in New York are investigating
World Cup posters of out soccer star Megan Rapinoe that were
vandalized as a possible hate crime.
The vandalism took place at the Byant
Park subway station in New York City.
CNN reported that eight posters
featuring Rapinoe were defaced with “homophobic and defamatory
slurs” and phrases such as “shemale” and “screw this ho.”
“Hate has no place in the transit
system and we work hard to make the subway a welcoming, safe
environment for everyone,” MTA
Deputy Communications Director Shams Tarek said in a statement
given to the New York Post. “We referred this to NYPD which
responded to investigate. Our maintenance teams got the posters
cleaned and we will have them replaced with new ones if necessary.”
New York City on Wednesday threw a
ticker-tape parade for the U.S. Women's National Team to celebrate
their World Cup win.
Rapinoe has been an outspoken critic of
President Donald Trump, in particular his policies against the LGBT
community and women.
(Related: Megan
Rapinoe to Trump: Your message is excluding people like me.)