Women's World Cup 2015: Anti-Gay Marriage Republican Presidential Candidates Congratulate Team With Gay Players

The U.S. women's soccer victory created an awkward situation for Republican presidential candidates who are opposed to gay marriage -- or who won't outright support it -- but who also wanted to congratulate the team on Twitter. The American team, which won the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Sunday in Vancouver, Canada, is "the most publicly out," with a coach and three players who are out lesbians, according to OutSports, an LGBT sports site. But the Republicans didn't let a little cognitive dissonance get in the way of congratulating athletes whose right to marry they would also deny.

The event produced images reminiscent of the U.S. women's team win in 1999, when Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey and kneeled on the field. After Sunday's victory, Abby Wambach kissed her wife Sarah Huffman at the front of the stands.

"While the men's professional game has been reluctant to be fully inclusive and supportive of anyone within the game who identifies as LGBT, it's generally regarded that football [i.e., soccer] is much more accepting of women who are lesbian or bisexual," said Lindsay England, head of Just A Ball Game, an organization that seeks to end anti-LGBT bias in soccer, according to OutSports. The list of publicly out soccer players at the 2015 Women's World Cup is 17, the site reports.

On the U.S. women's team, coach Jillian Ellis and players Ali Krieger, Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach are out lesbians.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has gone on record as opposing same-sex marriage.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham has a long record of opposing gay marriage.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was not happy with the Supreme Court ruling making gay marriage legal across the U.S.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has stated that marriage should be "between a man and a woman."

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal strenuously fought the ruling ordering his administration to hand out same-sex marriage certificates.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has long opposed gay marriage, and likens it to alcoholism.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has gone on record for his anti-gay marriage views, but it didn't stop him from retweeting congratulations and composing his own on Twitter.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker won't answer one way or another regarding his position on gay marriage.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has made contradictory statements about gay marriage.

Meanwhile, beleaguered presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has long supported "traditional marriage" -- he's had three of them -- was too busy tweeting about Mexican immigration to acknowledge the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team victory.