NYPD Investigating Anti-Gay Slurs Directed at Megan Rapinoe on Subway Posters

The New York Police Department is investigating anti-gay slurs directed toward United States women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe. 

Scott Gleeson of USA Today reported the news, noting the NYPD confirmed Wednesday that eight celebratory posters featuring Rapinoe in a New York City subway station were vandalized with the hateful comments.

The NYPD hate crimes task force opened up the investigation.

"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, per Gleeson. "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."

Rapinoe and the rest of the U.S. team were in New York City on Wednesday for a parade and ceremony to honor their World Cup title.

The co-captain gave a memorable speech to the crowd in which she urged everyone to move past hate and contention and "be better" and "make this world a better place."

Rapinoe is openly gay and an advocate for LGBTQ rights. She recently appeared on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 to discuss her thoughts on the sitting president and the World Cup victory.

"I think I would say that your message is excluding people," she said of Donald Trump's overall message. "You're excluding me. You're excluding people that look like me. You're excluding people of color. You're excluding, you know, Americans that maybe support you."

Rapinoe thrived during the United States' World Cup victory in France, helping lead the team to an undefeated record. She scored the opening goal in the championship victory over the Netherlands and was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's most valuable player and Golden Boot as its leading scorer.