Culture June 25, 2018

1st LGBTQ couple featured on cover of ESPN The Magazine's body issue

WATCH: LGBTQ couple featured on cover of ESPN The Magazine's body issue

ESPN The Magazine is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its body issue with 10 unique cover images, including one that features the first-ever LGBTQ couple to pose together in the magazine's history.

The power couple of women's sports -- WNBA star Sue Bird and professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe -- were captured together in this year's magazine.

ESPN The Magazine
WNBA star Sue Bird and her girlfriend, professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe, are the first lesbian couple to pose for ESPN The Magazine's body issue.

The highly-anticipated body issue, which annually features athletes baring all, always aims to celebrate diversity, and this year includes three other women on the covers: soccer player Crystal Dunn, softball player Lauren Chamberlain, and basketball star Breanna Stewart.

ESPN The Magazine
Soccer player Crystal Dunn poses for the 2018 ESPN The Magazine body issue.

The female athletes are posed as if they are in action -- jumping for a basket or lunging for a kick, with balls or bats alongside them.

ESPN The Magazine
Basketball player Breanna Stewart poses for the 2018 ESPN The Magazine body issue.

Creators say the body issue has always challenged beauty magazines' traditional notions of bodily perfection, and invites readers to celebrate athletic prowess in all its forms.

ESPN The Magazine
Softball player Lauren Chamberlain poses for the 2018 ESPN The Magazine body issue.

In the past, transgender athlete Chris Mosier has been spotlighted, and veteran paralympian Kristie Ennis has also posed for the iconic issue.

America's sweetheart, Adam Rippon, posed for this year's issue while nude, skating and gliding on ice. Rippon took home a bronze medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

ESPN The Magazine
Adam Rippon poses for the 2018 ESPN The Magazine body issue.

The full gallery of shots from this year's annual body issue is out today on ESPN's website, here.

The magazine hits newsstands nationwide on Friday.