Copyright bbc
In comparison to the men's game, women's football has many more openly gay players. There were no openly gay or bisexual players in the 2022 men's World Cup. In contrast, the 2023 Women's World Cup had more than 40 openly lesbian or bisexual players. Earps is said to have been encouraged and supported by her former Lionesses teammates after recently opening up about her relationship to them. Giving a statement to the BBC, Earps said: "I've always tried to keep my personal life separate from my professional one, but it would have felt inauthentic not to include something so important to me in this book. "I'm in a really happy relationship. The people closest to me have always known, and I feel ready and happy to share that with everyone else now." The keeper, who grew up in Nottingham, was a key part of the Lionesses side which won the Women's Euros in 2022 and was the team's vice captain during the Women's World Cup in 2023, which saw England lose in the final to Spain. She was also crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2023, which she described as an "incredible" experience. In May 2024, she was awarded an MBE by Prince William. She has publicly spoken many times about the importance of being a "trailblazer" and role model. In an interview in August 2024, she said: "I'm a very ambitious person, a very hard-working person, and I think to try and push boundaries and try and be a pioneer for change, in many ways, is something that I really enjoy doing, and hopefully I can do for the rest of my career. "As Lionesses, one of the things that really sets us apart from other teams is how strong we are in our values and what we stand for."
