A former Carolina Panthers cheerleader claims she was fired for being transgender just as Donald Trump was returning to the White House.
Justine Lindsay became the NFL’s first transgender cheerleader in 2022 but was removed from the Panthers’ ‘TopCats’ before the 2025 season.
‘I was cut because I’m trans,’ Lindsay told Gaye Magazine. ‘I don’t wanna hear nobody saying: ‘He 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?
‘I was devastated,’ she added. ‘It stung. I was hurt.’
Daily Mail has reached out to team spokespeople for comment.
‘I love them down,’ Lindsay went on to say. ‘I appreciate everything that they’ve done for me, but I feel like I was done wrong.
Justine Lindsay (far right) became the NFL’s first transgender cheerleader in 2022 but was removed from the Panthers’ ‘TopCats’ before the 2025 season
Justine Lindsay and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attend a Night of Pride in 2023
‘It was like a big slap in the face to not only me but for the youth. And this was right after Trump became president.’
Lindsay did not directly blame Trump’s second term for her dismissal in Charlotte, but the President has condemned transgender advancement in both the military and women’s sports.
In one executive order, titled ‘Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,’ Trump disqualified anyone with gender dysphoria as well as anyone with a history of cross-sex hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery.
And with a separate executive order titled ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,’ Trump threatened to revoke federal funding from educational institutions and athletic organizations that permit transgender girls and women to play female sports.
Since then, NCAA President Charlie Baker has moved his organization into compliance with the executive order.
