A pro soccer player known for her anti-LGBTQ+ views is refusing to play in her team's Pride Night game

• An NWSL player with notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ views is refusing to play in her team's Pride Night game.
• Defender Jaelene Daniels opted out of the NC Courage's game against the reigning champion Washington Spirit.

A National Women's Soccer League player with a public record of homophobic sentiment is declining to suit up alongside her teammates Friday night, when the team will be celebrating Pride Night.

North Carolina Courage defender Jaelene Daniels — formerly known by her maiden name, Hinkle — has opted out of the matchup against the reigning champion Washington Spirit. A devout Christian, Daniels reportedly refused to wear the Courage's rainbow-numbered jerseys meant to honor and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, according to WRAL.

"Jaelene will not be rostered tonight as she has made the decision to not wear our Pride jersey," a spokesperson for the Courage told the North Carolina media outlet. "While we're disappointed with her choice, we respect her right to make that decision for herself.

"We're excited to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community with our fans, players, and staff tonight and look forward to hosting our first ever Pride Festival before kickoff," the team added.

This is not the first time Daniels' faith has prevented her from doing her job. In 2017, she famously cited "personal reasons" for declining an invitation to a US Women's National Team camp.

The decision halted her tenure with the USWNT in its tracks. Later, in an appearance on "The 700 Club," Daniels admitted that she had withdrawn from the USWNT camp due to her religious aversion to wearing an LGBTQ+ Pride jersey.

"I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn't my job to wear this jersey," Daniels said on the Christian television show. "I gave myself three days to just seek and pray and determine what [God] was asking me to do in this situation.

"I knew in my spirit I was doing the right thing," she added. "I knew I was being obedient."

Fans did not respond favorably to the homophobic admission, which came not long after Daniels tweeted that "this world is falling farther and farther away from God" upon the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. She was routinely booed at subsequent NWSL games, with some fans even making signs critiquing the "personal reasons" for which she missed a shot on the national team.

Daniels retired from professional soccer in 2020, but after giving birth to her first child, she chose to return to the field and re-sign with North Carolina. Just three days after announcing the deal, the Courage issued a formal apology via release "to all those we have hurt" after they "spent the past few days reading your messages and reflecting on our actions."

But the club wasn't sorry enough to reverse course.

"The decision to re-sign Jaelene [Daniels] was not made lightly and included significant conversations between organization leadership and Jaelene," the statement continued. "The priority expressed in those conversations is the safety of our players and maintaining an inclusive, respectful space for the entire team."

As many — including women's soccer reporter André Carlisle — noted at the time, those conversations did not include consultation with any LGBTQ+ players or fans. Several members of North Carolina's roster identify as LGBTQ+.

Some, such as Merritt Mathias, have spoken out about the impact the 29-year-old's re-signing has had on the team. Attendance is at it's lowest since the club's first year in the Tar Heel state, and the forward admitted that it's been difficult to see how "fan support has wavered" as a result of the front office's controversial decision, USA Today's Seth Vertelney reported in May.

"There are reasons why people aren't here and haven't wanted to spend their money or beliefs and that is up to them," Matthias said. "If this gets out there, I am a part of the community that has struggled with some of the choices that this club has made.

"There is a group here that truly, truly loves and supports and is here for the LGBTQ community," she added. "I think that is a really important message to get out there, because we definitely miss you guys. We definitely miss our fans."

Representatives for the Courage did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.