Kristan Ann Ware is a former Cheerleader of the Miami Dolphins, a National Football League (NFL) team. In April 2018 she filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations against the Miami Dolphins and the NFL alleging she was discriminated against based on her Christian beliefs and decision to remain a virgin until marriage.

Kristan Ware was born in Wichita Falls, Texas to parents Deborah MacQueen and Kendall Ware. Kristan was raised in Sumter, South Carolina. Kristan's stepfather is Scott MacQueen. She also has a younger sister, Kenzie MacQueen.

Kristan grew up Christian, with her mother Deborah playing a large role in inspiring her and instilling the faith in her. Her family was also a military family.

Kristan Ware went to Thomas Sumter Academy (TSA) for high school in Sumter, South Carolina. As a child she enjoyed multiple sports including dance, basketball, and softball.

Andrea Govier, a dance instructor at The Freed School of Performing Arts in Sumter and at TSA, was Ware's instructor in middle and high school.

She said Ware stood out from the other students in her group.

"She was always smiling, her personality really shone through," Govier said.

"She certainly had a talent for dance at a young age.

You could really tell that she enjoyed what she did.

In middle and high school, she played on the school's junior varsity and varsity basketball teams.

She was a starter on the school's basketball team, which won the state championship her senior year.

"Kristan's a phenomenal leader with unbelievable talent," said B.J.

Reed, head coach of TSA's girls' varsity basketball team.

"She did whatever was necessary to help her team."

Reed said Ware had quickness in her feet, which made her an extraordinary defensive player.

But besides her athletic talents, she said Ware has a pure heart and dares to be different.

"She's an inspiration to young ladies everywhere," Reed said.

"In this day and age, it's not politically correct to be different, to openly share your faith and live by it.

Yet Kristan does just that.

Kristan Ware is a practicing Christian who thinks of herself as a cheerleader for Jesus Christ. In an interview with The Item, she said, "My faith has been tested many times, but God is always going to be there with me," she said. "I've never felt closer to Him than I do now."

Coming from a military family, Kristan Ware is a proud supporter of the United States Military. As a cheerleader she has done five tours visiting US Military troops.

"Growing up in a military home, I've seen the sacrifices that service men and women make," she said.

"I can never find the right words to say to thank them for their service."

Kristan Ware attended Lander University in Greenwood for about a year before transferring to the University of South Carolina Columbia. In August 2013, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Sciences with a Biological emphasis.

From 2014-2017, Kristan Ware was a Cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins. Kristan saw her fame from being an NFL cheerleader as a way to spread the message of Christ. As a cheerleader she conducted five worldwide military tours and traveled to 30 countries, sharing her talents in hospitals, schools and various communities.

Kristan previously worked as an intern for the Mossel Bay Predator Marine Lab in South Africa. In this role, she conducted more than 600 hours of laboratory research, tracking great white sharks and working with other sea creatures.

From June 2011-2012, Kristan worked as a Laboratory Technician at the Wetland / Estuarine Health and Ecology Health Lab. In this role, she initiated and maintained saltwater and freshwater aquariums. She also assisted in laboratory and specimen collection research.

From May 2009-2011, Kristan was a Lifeguard and Water Safety Instructor at Shaw Air Force Base.

On Wednesday, April 11, 2018 Kristan Ware filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations against the Miami Dolphins and the NFL, alleging that she was discriminated against because of her religion and gender.

Kristan Ware said in a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations that she was subjected to a hostile work environment for her expressions of faith in Christianity.

The complaint claims that Ware was held to a different standard than players, who often cite their faith publicly, everywhere from social media posts to locker room interviews.

Some players kneel in prayer after a big play, and often pray together at the center of the field with opposing players after the game.

Ware is demanding arbitration from the Florida commission, and she also requested a hearing with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Ware contended that she became “a target of discipline, ridicule, harassment and abuse” from the team’s cheerleading director, Dorie Grogan, and other coaches and representatives of the squad only after she posted an off-season photo on social media of herself being baptized before her third season with the team.

Ware said some Dolphins cheerleading coaches mocked her after other cheerleaders learned that she was a virgin, planning to wait for marriage to have sex. At a 2016 rehearsal for a fashion show at which cheerleaders modeled bikinis, Ware claims, she was dressed with angel wings — something Ware believes was a poke at her virginity — and then physically grabbed and verbally harangued by Grogan as she exited the runway.

She complained to the team’s human resources department, she said, but the treatment from some leaders of the cheerleading team continued.

She did not try out for a fourth season in 2017.

Kristan Ware is being represented by, Florida lawyer Sara Blackwell, who is also representing Bailey Davis another NFL cheerleader.

In March 2018, the former New Orleans Saints cheerleader Bailey Davis filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, citing a double standard in rules imposed for female and male employees, after she was fired for violating a social media policy specific to cheerleaders. Sara Blackwell said that she and Ware “are not focusing on monetary damages but they are requested.” “Kristan requests the N.F.L., Dolphins and all N.F.L. teams immediately change their policies to be equal to both the players and the cheerleaders and to specifically stop all intimidation against the cheerleaders for maintaining and expressing their religious beliefs,” the complaint says.

In the response to the complaint, NFL spokesman, Brian McCarthy said, “The N.F.L. and all N.F.L. member clubs support fair employment practices,” “Everyone who works in the N.F.L., including cheerleaders, has the right to work in a positive and respectful environment that is free from any and all forms of harassment and discrimination and fully complies with state and federal laws.

Our office will work with our clubs in sharing best practices and employment-related processes that will support club cheerleading squads within an appropriate and supportive workplace.”

In a statement, the Miami Dolphins said: “We are seriously committed to providing a positive work environment for everyone associated with the organization.

We hold every member of our organization to the same standards and do not discriminate as it relates to gender, race and religious beliefs.”