USA women’s hockey player Britta Curl-Salemme partners with group…

USA women’s hockey player Britta Curl-Salemme partners with group…

Britta Curl-Salemme, a ahead with the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team and the Professional Women’s Hockey League, re-entered the debate round transgender athletes after she collaborated on an Instagram video with a bunch working to maintain transgender women out of women’s sports activities.

Curl-Salemme and FIERCE Athlete, which goals to advertise “true femininity in sport” and “empower female athletes to thrive in their God-given identity,” have been linked since the group announced her as a consultant in September. But the video posted by each Curl-Salemme and FIERCE Athlete on Monday got here weeks after the 25-year-old had distanced herself from social media exercise that beforehand drew backlash from progressive followers of the PWHL.

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In the video, Curl-Salemme, who’s Catholic, walks by her Sunday morning routine. It exhibits her preparing for the day, then her attendance at a Latin mass, and consists of on-ice footage of the Minnesota Frost’s win over the New York Sirens. The video also exhibits Curl-Salemme studying from her Bible at house, and the publish’s caption quotes Mark 10:45, which she calls her favourite scripture verse.

Though FIERCE Athlete branding doesn’t seem in the clip, Curl-Salemme tagged the group on it. It appeared on the group’s Instagram web page however has since been eliminated.

The PWHL declined to touch upon Curl-Salemme’s involvement with FIERCE Athlete or the video’s use of its on-ice footage. The Minnesota Frost and FIERCE Athlete didn’t return requests for remark. A spokesperson for USA Hockey said representatives have been on their approach to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and weren’t obtainable. Curl-Salemme is ready to compete at the Games.

Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News first reported the latest collaboration between Curl-Salemme and FIERCE Athlete.

Controversy has swirled round Curl-Salemme’s faith and politics since the run-up to the 2024 PWHL Draft, when the Frost chosen Curl-Salemme in the second round.

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In the weeks before the June 2024 draft, Curl-Salemme’s past social media exercise started to flow into on-line. Internet sleuths discovered Curl-Salemme had “liked” posts criticizing Target for promoting LGBTQ+ merchandise and criticizing vaccine mandates. She also “liked” posts exhibiting assist for Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two people and wounded a 3rd during unrest in Kenosha, Wis., in August 2020, following George Floyd’s homicide in Minneapolis. A June 2023 X publish from Curl-Salemme’s private account also voiced assist for the barring of transgender women from women’s sports activities.

Curl-Salemme posted a video on X after the draft apologizing for the “hurt” brought on by her social media exercise.

“I specifically recognize that my social media activity has resulted in hurt being felt across communities, including LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals, and I just want to apologize and take ownership of that,” Curl-Salemme said.

Loud booing has nonetheless adopted her from the draft stage to her pregame introductions and postgame interviews. At instances, jeers could be heard when she touches the puck. In December, she spoke instantly about the matter for the first time in a profile by The Athletic, arguing that she’s been misunderstood by her critics.

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“If I was actually the way people say that I am, I would hope they would boo me. But it’s just not accurate,” she said. “The person that has been painted and what has been shared, that sounds like a s—-y person. Someone who’s racist, transphobic, hateful and wants people to not exist, I wouldn’t like them either.”

Curl-Salemme said that “liking” a publish didn’t imply she agreed with its contents. She said she didn’t agree with a publish she appreciated by which conservative Candace Owens said shops that carry LGBTQ+ merchandise are “perverted.” Regarding Rittenhouse’s actions, she said she might not have all the info, however didn’t assist what he did. She also denounced supporters who’ve pushed anti-trans rhetoric while defending her.

“It’s just so gross and hateful,” she said. “If you’re just coming here to be rude or hateful towards someone, I don’t want you defending me.”

FIERCE Athlete founder Samantha Kelley has been outspoken about her views on barring transgender women from women’s sports activities, including in a July 2022 look on the faith-focused “Broken Halo” podcast to debate the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX. While responding to a remark from priest and host Dave Dwyer that there appears to be more consideration on enhancing the tradition of women’s sports activities, Kelley highlighted participation by trans athletes as one thing that poses a “threat.”

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“We’ve gotta keep going. I mean, there’s threats in other ways, like biological men trying to compete in women’s sports. That’s kinda the current threat, but we’ve had some victories as of late in that arena, so hopefully things are shifting in the right direction,” Kelley said.

Later, while discussing toxicity in school sports activities’ “play hard, party hard” tradition, Kelley famous many younger athletes wrestle with consuming problems and physique picture issues. Among those points, she said, is that “in the female realm, we do see a lot of women struggling with same-sex attraction.”

FIERCE’s podcast feed, which has not printed an episode since 2024, beforehand ran a miniseries called “Fighting for Women in Sport,” which targeted particularly on transgender athletes. The first episode of the sequence is an interview with Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who’s now a conservative media pundit. Another episode featured Paula Scanlan, another former collegiate swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania who gained consideration for criticizing transgender teammate Lia Thomas. A 3rd is with Macy Petty, who spoke out against going through a transgender opponent in school volleyball.

The present’s last episode was in May 2024, when Kelley interviewed Jennifer Sey, the founding father of athletic clothes company XX-XY Athletics.

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“All the other big athletic brands out there claim to champion female athletes but are either silent on the subject of males entering women’s sports or, in fact, on the wrong side of the issue,” the company’s web site says. “How can a brand say that they champion female athletes and be ok with the idea of males stealing trophies, team berths and scholarships from hard-working female athletes? They can’t. They are selling out women for wokeness.”

Several other PWHL gamers have “liked” or commented positively on Curl-Salemme’s latest publish, including U.S. national team gamers Haley Winn and Hayley Scamurra, in addition to Frost teammates Kendall Cooper, Claire Butorac, Mae Batherson, Brooke Becker and Dominique Petrie. Tessa Janecke, a national team player and 2026 PWHL Draft prospect, joined them.

This article initially appeared in The Athletic.

Minnesota Frost, Olympics, Women’s Hockey

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