On Jaelene Daniels’s Twitter page, there’s a single pinned tweet. It says, “If you live for people’s acceptance, you’ll die from their rejection.” “Unashamed,” she added below. The post is from 2016, a year before the soccer star made coast-to-coast headlines for refusing to wear an LGBT pride jersey. It was a decision that cost Jaelene a spot on the U.S. Women’s National team — ending a longtime dream. “I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn’t my job to wear this jersey,” she said. Five years later, that conviction hasn’t changed.
Daniels plays for a North Carolina team that couldn’t be more appropriately named: the North Carolina Courage. But unfortunately, the team named “courage” refuses to tolerate it — at least where religious freedom is concerned. Daniels, who’s more than familiar with the harassment that comes with standing your cultural ground, was asked by management to participate in the team’s Pride night last Friday. Along with a pre-game LGBT festival, players were told to wear a special transgender and rainbow-themed jersey. Daniels, in keeping with her longtime convictions, refused. The team, in a familiar overreaction, benched her.
“Jaelene will not be rostered tonight as she has made the decision to not wear our Pride jersey,” a Courage spokeswoman said in a statement before the game. “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.”
Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time Daniels has been dissed by the Courage front office. When the team re-signed her in December, they actually apologized for it, acknowledging that her Christian beliefs were at odds with the league’s woke agenda.
The decision to offer Daniels a contract, the team insisted, “was not made lightly and included significant conversations between organization leadership and Jaelene. The priority expressed in those conversations is the safety of our players and maintaining an inclusive, respectful space for the entire team. … We as a club acknowledge the impact this announcement has on our community,” the North Carolina Courage said in an unsigned open letter to fans at the time. “We’ve spent the past few days reading your messages and reflecting on our actions. We are very sorry to all those we have hurt, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Good for her – Stand your ground. In a hundred years what the alphabet group wanted and expected won’t matter. What will matter is that she kept her eyes focused forward and God will honor that.
We need to pray Jaelene will be able to stand by her convictions.