Out lesbian soccer player Megan Rapinoe and famed gymnast Simone Biles are among 17 people who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden, media outlets noted.
Some of the other honorees include actor Denzel Washington; Sandra Lindsay, the New York City nurse who, in December 2020, received the first COVID-19 vaccine dose; anti-gun-violence advocate and former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford; Steve Jobs, the late co-founder, chief executive and chair of Apple Inc.; retired Brigadier Gen. Wilma Vaught; and the late John McCain, the Arizona Republican with whom Biden served in the U.S. Senate.
Biden himself is a medal recipient, The Chicago Tribune noted.
President Barack Obama honored Biden's public service as a longtime U.S. senator and vice president by awarding him a Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2017, a week before they left office.
The honorees who will receive medals from Biden "have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities, and across the world, while blazing trails for generations to come," the White House said.