On the heels of the U.S. women’s national team’s World Cup victory, goalie Ashlyn Harris is slamming former teammate Jaelene Hinkle as “homophobic,” citing her decision not play last year due to a jersey commemorating Pride Month.
In June of 2018, former U.S. women’s soccer player Jaelene Hinkle told CBN’s “The 700 Club” she could not, in good conscience, play for the team because of a rainbow-clad jersey she would have to wear.
“I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn’t my job to wear this jersey,” Hinkle told CBN. “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. I knew that I was being obedient.”
The Christian athlete’s comments gained new attention over the weekend, when Obianuju Ekeocha, an internationally acclaimed pro-life speaker and strategist, posted a clip from Hinkle’s year-old interview to Twitter. Ekeocha argued the U.S. women’s soccer team is “apparently … not a very welcoming place for Christians.”
In response, Harris went off on Hinkle, who has not spoken out at all against the team since her comments last summer:
Harris, who is openly gay, misattributed Ekeocha’s comments to Hinkle, telling the Christian player, “Don’t you dare say our team is ‘not a welcoming place for Christians.’ You weren’t around long enough to know what this team stood for.”
The problem, obviously, is Hinkle has never suggested the U.S. women’s soccer team is not accepting of Christians.
Harris has yet to address — or apologize for — her mixup.