Professional soccer player Jaelene
Hinkle has withdrawn from two upcoming exhibition games in June due
to “personal reasons.”
The 24-year-old Hinkle is a defender
for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League
(NWSL).
Her
withdrawal from friendlies against Sweden and Norway came roughly
two weeks after U.S.
Soccer announced that their national teams will be wearing
rainbow-colored jerseys in June during select matches in support
of LGBT Pride month.
Hinkle's profile on Twitter quotes
Colossians 3:23. “If you live for people's acceptance, you'll die
from their rejection,” she wrote. The Bible passage is interpreted
to mean that God is judging all that we do.
On June 26, 2015 – the day the
Supreme Court found that gay and lesbian couples have a
constitutional right to marry – Hinkle appeared to respond to the
high court's ruling, messaging
on Twitter that the “world is falling farther and farther away
from God.” She also wrote
on Instagram that “Love won over 2,000 years ago when the
greatest sacrifice of all time was made for ALL mankind” and
thanked God for his “amazing grace, even during times of trial and
confusion.”