Quinn is Outsports Non-Binary Athlete of the Year for what they’ve done on the pitch, in the community and for what they are about to do, hopefully, in the next Summer Olympic Games.

“I am honoured to be selected as 2020 Non-Binary Athlete of the year!” they told Outsports, upon learning of the award. “It’s been a whirlwind of a year for me since coming out and I’m so appreciative of the support.”

When the Canadian soccer player came out publicly on Instagram in September, two things happened: they joined the growing rank of LGBTQ athletes who identify as both transgender and non-binary. And they had to deal with a ton of deadnaming by both mainstream media as well as LGBTQ media, even Outsports.

We quickly corrected our mistake, while others seemed to miss the point: Quinn sought a clean break from their birthname, and going by Quinn — or their nickname Quinny, and The Quinny5 on social media — was how they did so.

The 25-year-old starting defender for the NWSL’s OL Reign, on loan as a midfielder for the Swedish club Vittsjö GIK, was already out to former teammates on the Canadian Women’s National Team. In addition to playing for Canada in the World Cup, Quinn was also a 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, and has played for the Washington Spirit and Paris FC after playing college soccer at Duke University. The Toronto native was the highest drafted Canadian when the Spirit selected them in 2018.

In their coming out post on Instagram, they issued a challenge to cisgender followers and fans: Be better allies.