As reported on toddstarnes.com, a professional women’s soccer team sidelined a Christian player for refusing to wear a gay pride-themed jersey. Jaelene Daniels, a defender for North Carolina Courage, was benched before Friday’s National Women’s Soccer League game against the Washington Spirit. “Jaelene will not be rostered tonight as she has made the decision to not wear our Pride jersey,” a Courage spokesman said before the game, according to The Washington Post. “While we’re disappointed with her choice, we respect her right to make that decision for herself,” the team added. The team spokesperson did not elaborate on why the team or the spokesperson respected Jalene’s action when the team used her action to ban her from playing. The team wrote on social media: “We’ll be celebrating Pride Night… but we’re proud to lift up the LGBTQIA+ community all year long.” The game ended in a 3-3 tie. Left unclear was how or why a soccer game did or should “lift up the LGBTQIA+ community.” For what it’s worth, national radio host and best-selling author Todd Starnes praised Daniels for her stand. “It seems to me the only one with courage on that team is Jaelene Daniels,” he said.  Daniels refused to wear a gay-pride jersey in 2017 when she played on the U.S. national team. The Courage team has a history with Jalene Daniels. The article claims that “When Daniels was re-signed last year, the team sent out an open letter apologizing to the “LGBTQIA+ community.”” The Courage club was sensitive to the implications to a larger constituency of signing to the team an athlete who identifies as a Christian. Evidently, a Christian is assumed to not identify with or accept some aspect of the ethos or ideology of politics of the LGBTQIA+ community. With this statement, the team pre-emptively attempted to blunt anticipated criticism of its decision to sign Daniels: “In response to the recent news of re-signing Jaelene Daniels, we as a club acknowledge the impact this announcement has on our community,” the team said in an open letter said, via ESPN. That pre-emptive apology was assessed to be insufficient. The statement elaborated further: “The decision to re-sign Jaelene was not made lightly and included significant conversations between organization leadership and Jaelene,” the team added. “The priority expressed in those conversations is the safety of our players and maintaining an inclusive, respectful space for the entire team.” The inclusivity component of the Courage team is remarkably selective and is, arguably, excluding. A reader would be forgiven for concluding that a professional sports team should intend to appeal to a broad and diverse community or communities.