NFL's First Transgender Cheerleader Joins Carolina Panthers 'TopCats' Team

The cat is officially out of the bag in Charlotte where the Carolina Panthers have officially hired the NFL's first transgender cheerleader, according to Justine Simone Lindsay, the cheerleader who will shake pompoms for Sam Darnold or whomever head coach Matt Rhule trots out there to take snaps.

Calling it a "dream come true," Justine Simone Lindsay made the huge announcement in March, but the news flew under the radar until BuzzFeed News did an interview with the new Topcat cheerleader to hear how this will change the NFL forever.

Ms. Lindsay, 29, said including a transgender cheerleader is a "break down that door" moment for the cheerleading profession.

“This is big,” she said. “I think more people need to see this. It’s not because I want recognition. It’s just to shed light on what’s going on in the world.”

You're probably thinking this is just the work of the NFL's Diversity and Inclusion team. Topcats director Chandalae Lanouette will have none of it. She says Justine earned this spot fair and square.

“My goal is to create a team of individuals that are absolute fire on the field but are incredible human beings in the locker room, good friends, good people, and at the end of the day, you have to walk through the door first to get to that spot,” Lanouette told BuzzFeed News.

A year ago, the TopCats announced they had hired the team's first two male cheerleaders.

Now comes Justine. Again, for those trying to keep track at home, this is the first transgender female cheerleader in the NFL's history.

In an Instagram post published Monday as news started to break of Justine's BuzzFeed interview, she announced, "To all the negative people out here in the world, I pray that God continues to bless you and love you unconditionally. Stay away."

"I live through him."