Ex-NFL Cheerleader Says Virginity Caused Discrimination

She's filed a complaint against the Miami Dolphins
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 13, 2018 5:38 AM CDT
Ex-NFL Cheerleader Says She Was Harassed Over Virginity
Miami Dolphins cheerleaders perform during the first half of an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, in Miami Gardens, Fla.   (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

A former Miami Dolphins cheerleader says she faced "hostility and retaliation" after revealing that she was a virgin. In an employment complaint filed with Florida Commission on Human Relations this week, Kristan Ann Ware says the team discriminated against her because of her gender and her Christian religion, the Miami Herald reports. She tells the Washington Post that it started on a team trip in 2015, when other cheerleaders on the bus were discussing their favorite songs to listen to during sex and she said she didn't have one because she was waiting until she got married because of her faith. She says the workplace became "hostile" after that and during a 2016 work review, cheerleading director Dorie Grogan told her: "Let's talk about your virginity."

Ware says Grogan told her she had made her virginity "dirty." She says after Grogan and the team choreographer ordered her not to talk about her faith or her virginity with teammates, she was told to change into a bikini and heels to see if she was "swimsuit ready." "It kind of crushed my spirit to change into a bikini after that comment was made. It took a piece of me," says Ware, who left after that season. Ware says female cheerleaders should be allowed to express their faith the same way that male players do. Her lawyer, Sara Blackwell, tells NBC that Ware never tried to convert anybody and only talked about her faith when she was discussing herself. She says Ware brought up her virginity because she was asked about sex and "she's too honest to lie." (Two classically trained male dancers are now LA Rams cheerleaders.)

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