{"id":227044,"date":"2025-10-20T14:15:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/227044\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T14:15:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:15:14","slug":"wnba-sparks-backlash-after-phoenix-mercury-invites-7-year-old-genderless-child-to-perform-during-halftime-how-is-this-legal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/227044\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA sparks backlash after Phoenix Mercury invites 7-year-old &#8216;genderless&#8217; child to perform during halftime: &#8216;How is this legal?&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Phoenix Mercury, a team in the Women&#8217;s National Basketball Association (WNBA), recently invited a 7-year-old child to perform during their halftime show. The child, identifying as genderless, wore makeup and a dress, leading to a wave of reactions across social media platforms. While some praised the team&#8217;s inclusivity, others expressed strong disapproval, accusing the organisation of promoting a particular ideology.<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Mercury invites a 7-year-old &#8216;genderless&#8217; child during halftime<\/p>\n<p>On October 19, 2025, the Phoenix Mercury invited a 7-year-old child to perform during their halftime show. The child, identifying as genderless, wore makeup and a dress, leading to a wave of reactions across social media platforms. <\/p>\n<p>During the halftime entertainment, the young performer captivated the audience with a dance routine. The child&#8217;s appearance, featuring makeup and a dress, was part of the team&#8217;s efforts to celebrate diversity and inclusivity.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8WTF?<\/p>\n<p>WNBA Phoenix Mercury team invited a 7-year-old \u2018genderless\u2019 child which appears to be a boy in makeup dressed as a little girl on the court to dance &amp; perform during the halftime show. <\/p>\n<p>How is this legal? <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OAOme57Oa1\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/OAOme57Oa1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DerrickEvans4WV\/status\/1980034604905136563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">October 19, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>While some praised the team&#8217;s inclusivity, others expressed strong disapproval, accusing the organisation of promoting a particular ideology.<\/p>\n<p>The Internet reacts: &#8216;We need Jesus&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The invitation has sparked a significant debate online. On platforms like X (formerly Twitter), some users lauded the Mercury for their progressive stance, applauding the representation of non-binary identities. However, most users criticised the decision, arguing that it was inappropriate for a child and accusing the team of pushing a &#8220;woke&#8221; agenda. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Boy or girl, the amount of makeup, eyelashes, fake nails, midriff showing, and hair dye is DISGUSTING for any parent to do to a 7-year-old child to parade them around &amp; force them to dance for the world. Investigate parents &amp; do a child welfare check asap,&#8221; one user remarked. &#8220;GROSS. &#8220;This child has been sexualised with the false lashes and long nails, etc., which is inappropriate for girls and boys!&#8221; another said. <\/p>\n<p>One user noted, &#8220;I think this shouldn&#8217;t even enter a 7-year-old&#8217;s realm of existence. I pray this gets out of elementary schools, kids&#8217; TV programming and other things. God bless, I think this is wrong.&#8221; &#8220;How does a 7-year-old decide to be genderless?&#8221; one questioned. <\/p>\n<p>Who is the &#8216;genderless; child?<\/p>\n<p>The child at the centre of this controversy is Ren, a 7-year-old from Japan who identifies as &#8216;genderless&#8217;. Ren&#8217;s Instagram account, @genderless_ren, boats over 19,200 followers and features a colourful grid filled with expressive photos showcasing long lashes, nails, and vibrant outfits.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/124703629.cms\" width=\"615\" height=\"360\"\/><\/p>\n<p>( Image credit : Instagram\/genderless_ren | The &#8216;genderless&#8217; child is also a popular Instagram figure )<\/p>\n<p> The account also hints that Ren often partakes in dancing gigs and has also featured in a music video. The account has garnered attention for its bold fashion choices and messages of self-expression.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/124703667.cms\" width=\"615\" height=\"360\"\/><\/p>\n<p>( Image credit : Instagram\/genderless_ren | Ren&#8217;s Instagram is a vibrant showcase of bold makeup and trendy fashion. )<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Phoenix Mercury\u2019s choice to feature Ren during their halftime show has sparked debates about gender identity and self-expression. While the team aimed to celebrate inclusivity, many argue that the controversy is less about gender and more about whether a young child should be exposed to so much makeup, fashion, and adult-style self-expression at such a young age. <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Mercury, a team in the Women&#8217;s National Basketball Association (WNBA), recently invited a 7-year-old child to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,108569,108567,3461,108568,101383,82,630,1873],"class_list":{"0":"post-227044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-child-self-expression","11":"tag-genderless-child","12":"tag-phoenix-mercury","13":"tag-ren","14":"tag-social-media-backlash","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-wnba","17":"tag-wnba-halftime"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}