HAIFA, Israel— Sapir Berman made sports history on Monday, officiating at a football match in Israel’s Premier League for the first time since coming out as transgender.
“This is the first step in a long and wonderful journey. Sapir, we are proud to do it with you,” the Israel Football Association tweeted as she took the field for the contest between Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Haifa.
At a news conference last Tuesday in which she publicly announced her transition, Berman, at 26 already a top referee in Israel’s leading football league, said she had always seen herself as a female, even at a young age.
She told reporters that players had already begun using the feminine fo…
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