In the early 1970s, a law professor named Ruth Bader Ginsburg took on a case that paved the way for a 15-year-old girl in New Jersey to play on a boys’ high school team.

The United States women’s team has been a source of inspiration to L.G.B.T. soccer players in France, who say they do not enjoy the same freedom to be themselves.

Though it has long been common for boys in the United States to skip college to pursue soccer careers, it is a move that has so far made sense for only a few girls. Just two members of the current United States women’s national team, for instance, have walked away from college scholarship offers for professional opportunities.

For Steinhaus, the daughter of an amateur referee who took her first officiating course at age 15, promotion to the Bundesliga was the realization of a lifelong dream. But it was in the flood of messages she received before, during and after the game that she began to grasp the remarkable extent to which others were invested in her achievement. “You’re breaking the glass ceiling for all of us,” a fellow female referee texted her.