Washington Spirit games provide a field for Trump resistance

When Sarah Parkinson walked through security at Audi Field on Sunday, she came prepared to cheer on the Washington Spirit – and protest President Trump’s takeover of D.C.

The 43-year-old brought along a pile of D.C. flags with the two bars replaced by images of sandwiches, an unsubtle reference to the former federal employee who became a local folk hero after he threw an uneaten sub at a Customs and Border Protection officer in early August. 

Parkinson sits in an area that has a lot of fellow season ticket holders. “It’s a passionate section that has frequent opinions about play and about the quality of officiating. It was clear [at an earlier game] that people also strongly opposed the federal takeover of D.C.,” she says, recounting that another fan jokingly yelled “I’ve got a sandwich for you!” at a referee over a contested call.

So she decided to make a bunch of the protest flags ahead of last weekend’s game against the Chicago Stars, which ended in a tie. “That’s what fans in Scotland would do, or fans all over the world would do if there was a major political incident in their country at the time of an internationally televised match,” Parkinson says. 

Politics and sports may have an uneasy coexistence in the U.S., but for many fans of the Spirit, the two are inseparable – even more so now. And that has been on vivid display over the last month, as pro-D.C. chants, signs, and activism have cropped up at Spirit games. 

At the August 15 game against Racing Louisville, the first match after Trump announced his widely loathed surge of law enforcement and National Guard into D.C., fans broke out into “Free D.C.” chants during the game’s 51st minute. (It  caught the attention of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.) Those same chants took place during the game against Chicago.

And it wasn’t just chants. There were a number of pro-statehood flags and banners in the stadium, and many people holding the large Spirit banner on the field during the national anthem wore Free D.C. shirts and held up their fists in silent protest. (Free D.C. is a group currently leading protests and opposition to the takeover, as well as the name of the historical movement for home rule and statehood.)

That pro-D.C. activism is picking up at Audi Field isn’t surprising, says Meredith Bartley, the president of the Spirit Squadron, one of the team’s rowdy supporter groups that occupies the stands on the north end of the field.

“We have been pretty anti-racist, very openly queer, and openly engaged in the politics of D.C. and women’s sports since our inception. We know that sets us apart. It’s not surprising to people who know women’s soccer that Spirit fans have been the first to have to have a stance,” she says. “With the occupation of our city, it shifted focus to working with Free D.C. to reemphasize statehood.”

Bartley says that the squadron has long taken political and social stands, hosting Pride nights at games before they became team-sanctioned events (the August 31 game against Chicago was an official Pride Match) and pushing to support trans athletes in sports.

“There is no separation of sports and politics, and for too long we have let people who don’t like people like me have sports,” says Bartley, who is queer. “They have used sports for nationalism and displays of masculinity. We are taking it back.”

Bartley points out that Megan Rapinoe, a former star of the women’s national team, was one of the first professional athletes to kneel during the playing of the national anthem after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick did so. At a subsequent soccer game – against the Washington Spirit, no less – the Spirit's then-owner played the anthem before players took to the field to prevent Rapinoe from publicly repeating the protest. And in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests that exploded across the country in 2020, former Washington Mystics player Natasha Cloud became well known for her social justice activism.

Parkinson agrees that politics are inseparable from sports – and she’s something of an expert on the topic. Currently an associate professor in political science at Johns Hopkins University, she has conducted research on the links between soccer and politics, including in the lead-up to the World Cup in Qatar, where players and fans were banned from wearing or displaying the Pride colors. 

“Despite what some football associations might say, politics is an integral part of soccer,” she says. “The Spirit had to fight to play at Audi Field. Players in the NWSL had to advocate for years for better pay and safe working conditions just because it’s a women’s soccer league. Women’s leagues around the world are underfunded because of politics.”

And Parkinson gives credit to the team’s ownership for leaning into issues of identity and diversity, despite the hostile political environment many groups face.  

“Right now when you see city leaders bowing down to the administration that has sent troops into a city ostensibly to police it, this is a team that still had drag performers and rainbow flags and insists on supporting the diversity of the fanbase,” she says. (The Spirit is owned by entrepreneur Michele Kang, who took control after a former owner resigned amidst allegations of a toxic work culture in the team.)

For Keya Chatterjee, the executive director of Free D.C., seeking out Spirit fans to echo the group's anti-takeover message was a no-brainer.

"We know from studying movements against dictators all over the world that a key element is often cultural interventions, right? And sports stadiums are a really important place to make those cultural interventions," she says. "Sometimes you'll get people there who who weren't paying attention otherwise."

The Spirit did not respond to a request for comment, but the team is one of the only in D.C. to openly speak to the city’s current challenges. Shortly after Trump’s push into D.C., the Spirit posted a message to fans on its Instagram account.

“We know these days feel heavy. We also know this city's story has always been one of strength, kindness, and of neighbors showing up for each other, no matter the challenge,” it read. “We play for you, because you are more than our home. You are our inspiration. As your team, we stand with you. As your neighbors, we walk beside you.”

And the club has promoted a video of Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune reading a "love letter to D.C." on its social media channels 

Still, in a thoughtful interview with the Washington Blade in late August, new Spirit CEO Kim Stone hinted that sports and politics can be a complicated mix. “Sports is the great unifier. People can come together at a match and leave their political affiliations and biases at the door…  It’s about being together, cheering, and feeling part of something bigger than yourself,” she said. (In the interview, Stone, who is gay, did note that the White House has targeted members of the LGBTQ+ community.) 

But Spirit fans like Bartley and Parkinson say that politics will continue to be a part of the Spirit fan experience – the next game is on September 7 – and that pro-D.C. and anti-takeover protests aren’t likely to quiet down anytime soon. 

“The atmosphere of a Spirit game is the perfect place for this to happen,” Bartley says. “If it hadn’t been those folks with a sandwich flag, it would have been folks with a Pride flag. We’ve got folks representing all around the stadium.”