NFL’s First Out Trans Cheerleader Justine Lindsay: “I Was Cut Because I’m Trans”

Justine Lindsay, the National Football League’s first out trans cheerleader, has claimed that she was cut from the Carolina TopCats because of her gender.

The cheerleader opened up about being cut from the team in an Instagram Live conversation broadcast by Gaye Magazine. Lindsay put it bluntly: “I was cut because I’m trans. I don’t wanna hear nobody saying ‘She didn’t wanna come back.’ Why the hell would I not wanna come back to an organization that I’ve been a part of for three years?” She went on to specify that she was “devastated” and “hurt,” but clarified that she is “not throwing shade at the organization. I love them down. I appreciate everything that they’ve done for me.”

Lindsay made waves in 2022 when she joined the TopCats. In her Instagram post announcing she had joined the team, Lindsay told fans she was trans. BuzzFeed News reported that Lindsay had indicated her gender identity in her application to join the squad, but hadn’t disclosed to others. “I’m happy because I was able to break down that door and tell people, ‘Hey, we are not just sexual beings,’” Lindsay told BuzzFeed at the time. “‘We are actual human beings who want to better ourselves.’ I felt like, Why not tell the world: ‘Hey, listen, this is a great accomplishment.’”

It was announced in August that, after three seasons, the performer would not be returning to the team. Her departure meant that no out trans cheerleaders are currently signed to a league team, though there are a number of out gay men. The move left Lindsay feeling “like I was done wrong” and that the team “wasn’t even looking at the bigger picture as far as who I was changing lives for,” according to her interview with Gaye Magazine. She said that even in her first year on the team, parents would reach out to her with stories of their trans children who looked up to her, and thank her. “It was like a big slap in the face to not only me but for the youth,” she said, adding that she had been cut off after Trump was re-elected.

As for the specifics of why Lindsay was cut from the team, she said that the team got a new coach who she had previously worked with, so she “knew exactly what her zhuzh was.” “So when she came over to our organization, I was like, ‘Oh hell, here we go. Imma have to deal with the same mess that I dealt with two years prior.’”

Lindsay won’t be deterred though. “Just because I’m not with that organization doesn’t mean I’m not still with the NFL,” she said. “I still have a lot of great connections within the NFL. It’s just a slap in the face.”