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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11898436" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nwsl" source="Orion">NWSL</keyword> club North Carolina Courage re-signed longtime defender <keyword id="12794286" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jaelene-daniels" source="Orion">Jaelene Daniels</keyword> ahead of next season.</li><li>Daniels — formerly known by her maiden name, Hinkle — is known for her anti-LGBTQ+ stances.</li></ul><p>The North Carolina Courage issued an apology to fans — "especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community" — after signing a player with a public history of <keyword id="11911134" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="homophobia" source="Orion">homophobia</keyword>.</p><p>But the National <keyword id="12225642" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-soccer" source="Orion">Women's Soccer</keyword> League club stopped short of parting ways with their latest acquisition.</p><p>The Courage announced Sunday that they had agreed to terms on a <a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news_article/show/1199622">one-year deal with Jaelene Daniels</a>. A longtime starter for the Courage who won three NWSL championships with the club, Daniels — formerly known by her maiden name, Hinkle — was widely considered one of the league's most talented defenders before she retired in 2020 to start a family.</p><div type="image" title="North Carolina Courage defender Jaelene Daniels dribbles the ball." height="1660" width="2214" msid="88463953" hostid="261"></div><p>Early in her NWSL career, Daniels began earning call-ups to the US Women's National Team. But her decision to <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDanLauletta/status/872103554592407552">cite "personal reasons"</a> to decline an invitation to a 2017 national team camp stopped her future with the USWNT in its tracks.</p><p>Later, Daniels — who is a devout Christian — admitted that she had withdrawn from the USWNT camp due to her <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2018/05/jaelene_hinkle_says_she_withdr.html">religious aversion to wearing an LGBTQ+ pride jersey</a>. </p><p>Multiple current and former national team players publicly identify as LGBTQ+, and the USWNT has long supported them and queer fans by donning rainbow-laden jerseys in celebration of Pride Month each June.</p><div type="image" title="USWNT players pose in their pride jerseys ahead of a June matchup against Portugal." height="1507" width="2500" msid="88463954" hostid="261"></div><p>"I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn't my job to wear this jersey," Daniels said on Christian television show The 700 Club. "I gave myself three days to just seek and pray and determine what he was asking me to do in this situation."</p><p>"I knew in my spirit I was doing the right thing," she added. "I knew I was being obedient."</p><p>Fans did not respond favorably to the homophobic admission, which came not long after <a href="https://twitter.com/jaelenedaniels/status/614516080292298752">Daniels tweeted</a> 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.</p><div type="image" title="Jaelene Daniels with the USWNT." height="1852" width="2500" msid="88463956" hostid="261"></div><p>Many NWSL supporters were not thrilled to hear that Daniels was back in the fold with North Carolina just a year after she retired. Just three days after announcing its signing, the franchise <a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news_article/show/1200187">issued a formal apology</a> via release "to all those we have hurt" after they "spent the past few days reading your messages and reflecting on our actions."</p><p>But the club wasn't sorry enough to reverse course.</p><p>"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."</p><p>As many — including <a href="https://twitter.com/not_carlisle/status/1473830689414000642">women's soccer reporter André Carlisle</a> — noted, those conversations did not include consultation with any of the LGBTQ+ players or fans who would be impacted by Daniels' homophobia. Several members of North Carolina's roster identify as LGBTQ+.</p><div type="image" title="Courage forward Merritt Mathias poses with a rainbow Pride flag after a game against the Portland Thorns on North Carolina's 2021 Pride night." height="1667" width="2500" msid="88463958" hostid="261"></div><p>The Courage assured fans that they would continue to host Pride-themed games with players donning rainbow Pride jerseys. The franchise also expressed its intention "to maintain a space built around inclusion, equity, and diversity." But the club's commitment to public displays of allyship without the same internal dedication to LGBTQ+ advocacy failed to appease many outraged fans.</p><p>Players are the most forward-facing representatives of a franchise and its culture. So if North Carolina's starting defender openly characterizes LGBTQ+ individuals — including her own teammates — <a href="https://twitter.com/mercash22/status/1474079259215998981">as "lost, rejected, and abandoned,"</a> that viewpoint would seem to represent the Courage's values as a club.</p><p>North Carolina's decision to knowingly employ a player with anti-LGBTQ+ views displays a fundamental disregard for many of the team's players and sends a message of indifference to its many LGBTQ+ fans. But most jarringly, the franchise's statement projects a stunning lack of moral bravery for a club with "Courage" in its name.</p>

A NWSL club apologized for hurting fans after re-signing an anti-LGBTQ+ player

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The National Women's Soccer League has long been welcoming to LGBTQ+ players and fans.</li><li>This week, two <keyword id="11898436" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nwsl" source="Orion">NWSL</keyword> clubs added players with histories of public anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.</li></ul><p>LGBTQ+ players and fans have been woven into the fabric of the National Women's Soccer League ever since its founding in 2012.</p><p>But even as the world's premier women's professional soccer league embarks on its 10th season, a struggle to maintain its LGBTQ-friendly reputation persists.</p><div type="image" title="Portland Thorns fans — known as the Rose City Riveters —&#xa0;regularly fly pride flags at NWSL games." height="1664" width="2500" msid="88439396" hostid="261"></div><p>Just this week, two NWSL clubs — the <keyword id="12243235" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="north-carolina-courage" source="Orion">North Carolina Courage</keyword> and the <keyword id="11898440" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="portland-thorns" source="Orion">Portland Thorns</keyword> — welcomed players with a public history of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and rhetoric onto their rosters. The additions are calling into question the NWSL and its clubs' commitment to LGBTQ+ fan and player safety.</p><h2>The Thorns' top pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft has engaged in controversial activity on social media</h2><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/nwsl-sexual-abuse-accusations-against-coach-paul-riley-2021-10">Portland has already come under fire in recent months for its role in the Paul Riley sex abuse scandal.</a> And amid supporters' continued calls for accountability within the NWSL franchise, club leaders offered fans yet another point of concern with their first selection in the 2022 NWSL Draft.</p><p>The Thorns took University of South Florida striker <keyword id="12794287" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sydny-nasello" source="Orion">Sydny Nasello</keyword> with the 13th overall pick in Saturday's college draft. Though the Bulls star's success on the pitch — 11 goals and five assists over 19 games in 2021 — speaks for itself, her off-field conduct has prompted a firestorm from fans across the league.</p><p>A series of tweets that Nasello liked and re-shared from her personal Twitter account began circulating after she was drafted Saturday afternoon.</p><p>Several of the messages boasted far-right political talking points including celebrations of <a href="https://twitter.com/RespirandoTobs/status/1472330647872147465">President Donald Trump's proposed border wall</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-obama-fake-kenya/fact-check-old-fabricated-obama-kenyan-birth-certificate-resurfaces-idUSKBN23O2QQ">baseless claims</a> that former <a href="https://twitter.com/324_B21/status/1472329846252470274">President Barack Obama was born in Kenya</a>.</p><p>But perhaps most concerning for fans and players was a transphobic message she retweeted. The original tweet, which came from conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, said that: "Biological males who think they are girls should not be allowed to compete in <keyword id="11893855" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports" source="Orion">sports</keyword> against actual biological girls."</p><p>Nasello used Twitter to issue an apology to fans on Saturday.</p><p>But shortly thereafter, the newly-selected Thorn made her Twitter account private, restricting the public from viewing her activity — and her apology — on the platform.</p><p>Portland head coach Rhian Wilkinson insisted the team remains "an inclusive, open club that values its fans and knows what we stand for" while addressing the matter with <a href="https://theathletic.com/live-blogs/nwsl-drafts-live-updates-picks-and-expert-analysis-from-the-expansion-and-college-drafts/udQtVbnx9aLu/">The Athletic's Steph Yang</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Sydny Nasello." height="2847" width="3796" msid="88439397" hostid="261"></div><p>"[Nasello] is someone that we did a lot of due diligence on in terms of what we do as as a club, but as a first year head coach and — yeah, these are these are gonna come across as excuses — but I do need to hold my hand up and be responsible for not doing the work needed on the social media side," she added. "Definitely a piece that we're going to be working with this young lady and getting to know her."</p><p>For many Thorns fans, the commitment to working on it was not good enough.</p><h2>The Courage find themselves in a similar position after re-signing a highly controversial former player</h2><p>The day after the NWSL college draft, North Carolina announced that the franchise had agreed to terms on a <a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news_article/show/1199622">one-year deal with Jaelene Daniels</a>. A longtime starter for the Courage who won three NWSL championships with the club, Daniels — formerly known by her maiden name, Hinkle — was widely considered one of the league's most talented defenders before she retired in 2020 to start a family.</p><p>Early in her NWSL career, Daniels began earning call-ups to the US Women's National Team. But in 2017, she <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDanLauletta/status/872103554592407552">cited "personal reasons"</a> for declining an invitation to national team camp.</p><div type="image" title="North Carolina Courage defender Jaelene Daniels." height="1667" width="2500" msid="88439400" hostid="261"></div><p>Later, Daniels — who is a devout Christian — admitted that she had withdrawn from the USWNT camp due to her <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2018/05/jaelene_hinkle_says_she_withdr.html">religious aversion to wearing an LGBTQ+ pride jersey</a>.</p><p>Multiple current and former national team players publicly identify as LGBTQ+, and the USWNT has long supported them and queer fans by donning rainbow-laden jerseys in celebration of Pride Month each June.</p><p>"I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn't my job to wear this jersey," Daniels said on Christian television show The 700 Club. "I gave myself three days to just seek and pray and determine what he was asking me to do in this situation."</p><p>"I knew in my spirit I was doing the right thing," she added. "I knew I was being obedient."</p><div type="image" title="USWNT players pose in their pride jerseys ahead of a June matchup against Portugal." height="1507" width="2500" msid="88439402" hostid="261"></div><p>Fans did not respond favorably to Daniels' homophobic admission. 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.</p><p>Unsurprisingly, many NWSL supporters were not thrilled to hear that Daniels was back in the fold with North Carolina. And given the announcement's proximity to the fallout involving Nasello, fans were quick to draw parallels between the two incidents.</p><p>Much like the Thorns, the Courage lost credibility among players and fans for their involvement in the Riley scandal. The club employed the now-disgraced head coach for years before <a href="https://theathletic.com/2857633/2021/09/30/this-guy-has-a-pattern-amid-institutional-failure-former-nwsl-players-accuse-prominent-coach-of-sexual-coercion/">The Athletic brought allegations of his abuse to light</a>. Riley won two championships and earned two NWSL Coach of the Year nods while in North Carolina.</p><p>For both the Courage and the Thorns, adding players whose ideologies contradict the values held by the vast majority of NWSL fans — and those <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2021/11/portland-thorns-new-gm-karina-leblanc-aims-to-bring-hope-healing-and-that-opportunity-to-rise-to-turbulent-club.html">purportedly held by the teams themselves</a> — doesn't help either franchise earn back the trust they lost during the 2021 season.</p><p>If anything, their stances have pushed fans further from the teams they once ardently supported.</p><div type="image" title="Portland Thorns fans hold &quot;Protect the Players&quot; signs at a game against the Houston Dash." height="1498" width="2500" msid="88439404" hostid="261"></div><p>There's no doubt that Nasello and Daniels are talented soccer players, and both have the potential to make their teams stronger on the pitch. But after the tumultuous year the league just endured, winning can no longer be the be-all and end-all for NWSL franchises.</p><p>North Carolina and Portland face a pressing question; how valuable is on-field success if no fans are left to support it?</p><p>The NWSL and Courage did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. The NWSL players association declined to comment for this story.</p>

The NWSL's reputation as an LGBTQ+ friendly league is in question after 2 controversial player signings

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An NWSL player with notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ views is refusing to play in her team's Pride Night game.</li><li>Defender Jaelene Daniels opted out of the NC Courage's game against the reigning champion Washington Spirit.</li></ul><p>A National Women's Soccer League player with a <a href="https://www.insider.com/nwsl-nc-courage-apology-anti-lgbtq-player-jaelene-daniels-signing-2021-12">public record of homophobic sentiment</a> is declining to suit up alongside her teammates Friday night, when the team will be celebrating Pride Night.</p><p>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, <a href="https://www.wralsportsfan.com/nc-courage-defender-won-t-play-for-team-in-pride-night-jersey/20395193/">according to WRAL</a>. </p><div type="image" title="North Carolina Courage players wore rainbow Pride numbers on their jerseys during a June 2021 match." height="1665" width="2220" msid="93221865" hostid="261" sizebytes="179770"></div><p>"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.</p><p>"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.</p><p>This is not the first time Daniels' faith has prevented her from doing her job. In 2017, she famously <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDanLauletta/status/872103554592407552">cited "personal reasons"</a> for declining an invitation to a US Women's National Team camp.</p><div type="image" title="Jaelene Daniels with the USWNT." height="1852" width="2500" msid="93221869" hostid="261" sizebytes="293198"></div><p>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 <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2018/05/jaelene_hinkle_says_she_withdr.html">religious aversion to wearing an LGBTQ+ Pride jersey</a>.</p><p>"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.</p><p>"I knew in my spirit I was doing the right thing," she added. "I knew I was being obedient."</p><div type="image" title="North Carolina Courage defender Jaelene Daniels." height="1667" width="2500" msid="93221870" hostid="261" sizebytes="168284"></div><p>Fans did not respond favorably to the homophobic admission, which came not long after <a href="https://twitter.com/jaelenedaniels/status/614516080292298752">Daniels tweeted</a> 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.</p><p>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 <a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news_article/show/1200187">issued a formal apology</a> via release "to all those we have hurt" after they "spent the past few days reading your messages and reflecting on our actions."</p><p>But the club wasn't sorry enough to reverse course.</p><div type="image" title="NC Courage captain Abby Erceg wears a rainbow armband for an opposing team's Pride game." height="935" width="1403" msid="93221871" hostid="261" sizebytes="134750"></div><p>"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."</p><p>As many — including <a href="https://twitter.com/not_carlisle/status/1473830689414000642">women's soccer reporter André Carlisle</a> — 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+.</p><p>Some, such as Merritt Mathias, have <a href="https://prosoccerwire.usatoday.com/2022/05/23/merritt-mathias-on-nc-courage-ive-struggled-with-some-of-the-choices-this-club-has-made/">spoken out about the impact</a> the 29-year-old's re-signing has had on the team. <a href="https://www.wunc.org/sports/2022-06-30/fan-interest-nc-courage-wavered-players-noticed-happened-nwsl-daniels-mathias">Attendance is at it's lowest</a> 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, <a href="https://prosoccerwire.usatoday.com/2022/05/23/merritt-mathias-on-nc-courage-ive-struggled-with-some-of-the-choices-this-club-has-made/">USA Today's Seth Vertelney reported in May</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Courage forward Merritt Mathias poses with a rainbow Pride flag after a game against the Portland Thorns on North Carolina's 2021 Pride night." height="1667" width="2500" msid="93221873" hostid="261" sizebytes="220490"></div><p>"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.</p><p>"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."</p><p>Representatives for the Courage did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.</p>

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

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12243235" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="north-carolina-courage" source="Orion">North Carolina Courage</keyword> defender Jaelene Daniels is known for publicly espousing anti-LGBTQ+ stances.</li><li>The club came under fire for <a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news_article/show/1199622">re-signing the three-time NWSL champion</a> a season after she retired.</li></ul><p>The North Carolina Courage — one of the National <keyword id="12225642" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-soccer" source="Orion">Women's Soccer</keyword> League's most decorated clubs — has <a href="https://theathletic.com/3085015/2022/01/21/north-carolina-courage-leaderships-response-to-jaelene-daniels-backlash-worsens-growing-disconnect-with-fans/">faced continued blowback</a> after signing a player who boasts a history of homophobia.</p><p><a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news/nc-courage-statement-following-recent-signing/">The Courage apologized</a> "to all those we have hurt, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community" after <a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news_article/show/1199622https://www.nccourage.com/news/jaelene-daniels-returns-to-nc-courage/">agreeing to a one-year deal with defender Jaelene Daniels</a> late last year, but stopped short of releasing their controversial signee, even as intense backlash followed the announcement. A devout Christian, Daniels — formerly known by her maiden name, Hinkle — famously <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDanLauletta/status/872103554592407552">withdrew from a US Women's National Team camp</a> due to her <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2018/05/jaelene_hinkle_says_she_withdr.html">religious aversion to wearing an LGBTQ+ Pride jersey with rainbow decals</a>.</p><p>Now, all 12 of the <keyword id="11898436" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nwsl" source="Orion">NWSL</keyword>'s franchises — including North Carolina — are gearing up to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride with themed games and programming. And while the Courage are set to play in a third of the league's Pride games, it remains unclear whether Daniels will partake in the celebratory festivities.</p><div type="image" title="Portland Thorns fans — known as the Rose City Riveters —&#xa0;regularly fly pride flags at NWSL games." height="1664" width="2500" msid="92006918" hostid="261"></div><p>Should Daniels sit out for all four contests — North Carolina is tied with the Portland Thorns for most Pride contests of all NWSL teams — the Courage will be without their starting left back for 18% of their regular season slate.</p><p>Representatives for North Carolina did not respond to Insider's repeated requests for comment on whether Daniels plans to play in Pride games. But <a href="https://www.nccourage.com/news/north-carolina-football-club-partner-with-lgbt-center-of-raleigh-harmony-nc-lgbt-allied-chamber-of-commerce-and-athlete-ally-to-celebrate-pride/">the club's website specifies</a> that "Courage players will wear Pride jerseys" and "Pride pre-match tops" — which Daniels has previously refused to do — as they host Angel City FC for their Pride match on July 15.</p><p>Though North Carolina has hosted Pride-themed games in the past, Courage players only began wearing Pride-stylized jerseys in 2021 — the year Daniels retired — so the controversial star has not yet faced this situation in her club career. Former North Carolina star Lynn Williams, who has since joined the Kansas City Current, referred to North Carolina's delay in implementing rainbow numbers as a mistake.</p><p>"I think I can speak on behalf of the team to say: We should have done this — worn the Pride numbers — way sooner," Williams said after last year's Pride match, <a href="https://indyweek.com/culture/sports/nc-courage-pride-night/">per IndyWeek</a>.</p><div type="image" title="North Carolina Courage players wore rainbow Pride numbers on their jerseys during a June 2021 match." height="1666" width="2222" msid="92006921" hostid="261"></div><p>Three opposing clubs — Racing Louisville FC, the Washington Spirit, and OL Reign — are scheduled to host North Carolina for their own Pride-themed contests at their home stadiums. Two of those three franchises denied deliberately choosing the Courage, while the third did not directly address the question.</p><p>A spokesperson for Racing Louisville told Insider that the club's Pride Night was long scheduled for its first home game in June — Saturday the 4th — which coincidentally coincides with North Carolina's lone visit to Lynn Family Stadium. OL Reign offered a similar explanation for choosing its July 1 matchup against the Courage for its Pride Match; the franchise devoted its only home game in the month of June "to focus on Juneteenth," but set its Pride Match for its next trip home to Lumen Field.</p><p>"Our opponents weren't at all taken into consideration when planning the themes of our games," Michelle Haines, Reign VP of Marketing &amp; Ticketing, told Insider.</p><p>Representatives for the Spirit did not directly address how the DC-based club went about organizing its promotional schedule. However, details of Washington's Pride activations — including Pride-themed corner flags and captain's arm bands — are <a href="https://washingtonspirit.com/2022/05/31/washington-spirit-announces-pride-celebration-plans/">listed on the team's website</a>.</p><div type="image" title="A natural rainbow appears above the field ahead of the Kansas City Current's Pride match against the Washington Spirit." height="1667" width="2500" msid="92006923" hostid="261"></div><p>Daniels' anti-LGBTQ+ views famously came to light in 2017 — well after she had established herself as a cornerstone of North Carolina's team — when she <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDanLauletta/status/872103554592407552">cited "personal reasons"</a> for declining her invitation to a USWNT camp in Europe. Multiple current and former national team stars publicly identify as LGBTQ+, and the USWNT has long supported those players and queer fans by donning rainbow-laden jerseys in celebration of Pride Month each June.</p><p>The choice stopped Daniels' national team career in its tracks, and just short of a year later, she explained that the decision stemmed from her religious views.</p><p>"I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn't my job to wear this jersey," Daniels revealed on Christian television show The 700 Club. "I gave myself three days to just seek and pray and determine what [God] was asking me to do in this situation."</p><p>"I knew in my spirit I was doing the right thing," she added. "I knew I was being obedient."<a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2018/05/jaelene_hinkle_says_she_withdr.html"></a></p><div type="image" title="Jaelene Daniels with the USWNT." height="1852" width="2469" msid="92006926" hostid="261"></div><p>NWSL supporters did not respond favorably to the admission, which came not long after <a href="https://twitter.com/jaelenedaniels/status/614516080292298752">Daniels tweeted</a> that "this world is falling farther and farther away from God" upon the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US. She was routinely booed at subsequent games, with some fans even making signs mocking the "personal reasons" for which she missed a shot on the national team.</p><p>Still, her employment with the Courage wasn't overwhelmingly questioned until she came out of retirement and re-signed with the club in 2021. The franchise had seemingly turned over a new leaf in her absence — <a href="https://www.insider.com/nwsl-sexual-abuse-accusations-against-coach-paul-riley-2021-10">firing an abusive longtime coach</a>, renewing its commitment to social justice initiatives, and more.</p><p>Many fans believed Daniels' views on LGBTQ+ rights did not meet North Carolina's new threshold. After all, how could the club expect someone who characterizes queer people as <a href="https://twitter.com/mercash22/status/1474079259215998981">"lost, rejected, and abandoned"</a> — someone who publicly refused to wear a Pride jersey — to treat her LGBTQ+ teammates with dignity?</p><p>Daniels has played in each of the Courage's regular-season games thus far, including its latest on May 29. The first of the team's four Pride-themed games is scheduled for Saturday against Louisville.</p>

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A NWSL club apologized for hurting fans after re-signing an anti-LGBTQ+ player

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The NWSL's reputation as an LGBTQ+ friendly league is in question after 2 controversial player signings

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

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Several NWSL clubs are hosting Pride games while facing a team with a notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ player

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