\u201cI can\u2019t even be disappointed with her, because she was just voicing beliefs that were not at all shocking to me,\u201d said V\u00e1zquez. \u201cThe disappointing part was seeing the platform that she\u2019s been given to express these views.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservative media personalities and politicians \u2014 including\u00a0Vice President JD Vance<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 have praised Cunningham as \u201ccourageous\u201d for taking a public stance on the issue, attracting national media attention. A photo that Riley Gaines, a vocal proponent of policies against trans athletes in girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports, posted with Cunningham\u00a0on X<\/a>\u00a0has been viewed more than two million times.<\/p>\n Cunningham\u2019s remarks have fueled demonstrations outside Fever games, both in support of and opposition to her stance. Inside, some spectators boo when Cunningham takes the court or touches the ball.<\/p>\n In July, ahead of a matchup between the Fever and the Seattle Storm, Storm center Stefanie Dolson arrived at the game in a white tank top that read \u201ctrans rights are human rights\u201d in the colors of the transgender pride flag. The Storm shared\u00a0a photo<\/a>\u00a0of Dolson in the shirt on the team\u2019s official social media pages.<\/p>\n As both teams took the court at Seattle\u2019s Climate Pledge Arena, Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton reportedly scolded two teenage fans who had\u00a0brought signs<\/a>\u00a0thanking Cunningham \u201cfor speaking up for girls.\u201d The WNBA suspended Keaton from attending the team\u2019s next five home games, and the Storm\u2019s majority owner issued a public apology.<\/p>\n Less than a week later, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a blue \u201cTrans Kids Belong\u201d t-shirt under her jacket during a game against the Fever in Minneapolis. Reeve told reporters she and Cunningham had spoken ahead of the game, and described the exchange as positive. \u201cWe need to protect trans kids,\u201d she said. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There are no out trans women currently competing in the WNBA, and a transgender woman has not played for the league in its entire 30-year history. Layshia Clarendon, who played for 12 seasons, including three with the Fever, is widely recognized as\u00a0the WNBA\u2019s first trans and nonbinary player<\/a>. AD Durr, who played for the New York Liberty and the Atlanta Dream before joining the new UpShot League in April, publicly\u00a0identified as non-cisgender<\/a>\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are trying to \u2018fix\u2019 a problem that does not exist,\u201d V\u00e1zquez said of recent discussions surrounding transgender women in professional basketball.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the thing that\u2019s both fascinating and incredibly demoralizing about where we have arrived in the litigation of trans existence in public,\u201d they said. \u201cA variety of sports leagues have robust trans inclusion policies, and those policies were more than sufficient to cover the realities of trans inclusion in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n Under a\u00a0collective bargaining agreement<\/a>\u00a0reached earlier this year between the WNBA and the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA), \u201conly players who are women\u201d are eligible to compete in the league. But the agreement, which runs through 2032, does not explicitly define \u201cwomen,\u201d an omission criticized in recent weeks by opponents of transgender women in sports.<\/p>\n Citing the agreement, two former NBA players, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, announced this month that they would declare for the 2027 WNBA draft, saying they had met the league\u2019s criteria for eligibility.<\/p>\n Following his announcement, Freedom posted a social media video claiming he would \u201cdominate\u201d the WNBA \u201cwithout batting an eyelash.\u201d<\/p>\n White, who is under a no-contact order filed by his ex-wife, said he would be \u201cunstoppable\u201d in the women\u2019s league despite playing just\u00a0three regular-season games<\/a>\u00a0during his brief stint in the NBA. He made his announcement days before losing a long-shot Minnesota Senate bid on Tuesday,\u00a0telling Fox News<\/a>\u00a0that he \u201csometimes\u201d identifies as a woman \u201cfor the purpose of basketball.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Jen Barnes, founder and CEO of Rough & Tumble, one of the nation\u2019s first women\u2019s sports bars, said Freedom\u2019s and White\u2019s declarations for the draft were \u201cabsurd\u201d and misogynistic.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is incredibly disrespectful to the athletes \u2014 the professional elite athletes who play this game,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cThere is zero reason to be having this conversation. We don\u2019t even have trans women players in the league right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Barnes, a Washington state native and longtime Storm fan, said she worries that debates surrounding transgender people in the WNBA will make the sport less welcoming for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen\u2019s sports are born from and exist in a space of inclusion. And whether it\u2019s kids, or families who are queer, or women or trans people, the leagues and these teams are supported by an inclusive fan base,\u201d she said. \u201cWe see ourselves represented on the court and on the field in women\u2019s sports, and the W and its players have long been an incredibly inclusive space.\u201d<\/p>\n In\u00a0a statement<\/a>\u00a0on August 7, more than two weeks after Cunningham\u2019s original remarks, the WNBPA said its players \u201cwill not be used as political pawns,\u201d and that \u201chate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm.\u201d<\/p>\n The following day, in a memo sent to team presidents, general managers and coaches, the league commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, said the organization would address its eligibility rules Wednesday at a previously scheduled meeting, but stressed that any changes would need to be collectively bargained.<\/p>\n The meeting on Wednesday did not yield any proposed changes to the WNBA\u2019s eligibility rules. In\u00a0a statement to ESPN<\/a>, the league said the meeting had covered a range of topics, \u201cincluding ongoing discussions on transgender athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will approach these important conversations thoughtfully and in alignment with the values of our league,\u201d the statement read. \u201cThere are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.\u201d<\/p>\n Katie Hultquist, a Storm fan of more than 25 years, said she appreciated that the players association\u2019s statement emphasized its commitment to diversity and inclusion. \u201cThis is a league that has fans of all different kinds of experiences and backgrounds and opinions,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that is part of what makes it beautiful, because it\u2019s bringing us together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA very small number of people \u2014 probably not actually even fans of the league \u2014 are trying to use this opportunity and this issue to divide fans and divide players,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Hultquist, who works for an international LGBTQ+ nonprofit in the Seattle area, said she\u2019s been encouraged by statements from WNBA players like Gabby Williams of the Golden State Valkyries,\u00a0who has said she would welcome<\/a>\u00a0a transgender player and has spoken out against policies restricting trans rights.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we don\u2019t say anything, I think it leaves trans people hanging out to dry with no support,\u201d Hultquist said. \u201cEspecially as cis people, I think we need to show that we have their back and that we don\u2019t need to take the bait, so to speak, into bad-faith arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n Nat Pearman, a season ticket holder for the Dallas Wings, said she\u2019s also appreciated how some of her favorite players and coaches have navigated recent national scrutiny surrounding the league.<\/p>\n \u201cCheryl Reeve is a national treasure,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s very much like, we can have a difference of opinion and actually have a conversation about it. At the same time, we can\u2019t have a conversation if one side sees the existence of trans women as a sort of existential threat.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearman, who is trans and an \u201cOG\u201d WNBA fan of roughly 30 years, said she expects WNBA leadership to \u201ctake the path of least resistance\u201d as it eyes\u00a0a nationwide expansion<\/a>, but added that the league has a history of player-driven progressive activism.\u00a0<\/p>\n WNBA players were\u00a0among the first<\/a>\u00a0to affirm the Black Lives Matter movement and protest the rise of police brutality and gun violence in the United States. In 2020, the league and players association launched the WNBA Social Justice Council, a first-of-its-kind effort to address systemic racism, healthcare inequity, gender equality, and LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n It was in that same spirit that Chris Paulsen, a 27-year Fever season ticket holder and CEO of IYG, a local LGBTQ+ nonprofit, asked the team\u2019s leadership for a meeting.<\/p>\n The two groups had formed a close partnership over the last decade, she said, and Fever players for years had visited IYG\u2019s headquarters in Indianapolis to meet with queer and trans youth. At the Fever\u2019s annual Pride night in June, the team\u00a0honored Paulsen<\/a>, who will retire at the end of the year, at center court.<\/p>\n Paulsen said she met with executive leadership at the Fever and its parent company, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, about Cunningham\u2019s remarks and the ensuing fallout. She asked if they would be open to releasing a joint statement, but they declined, telling Paulsen the Fever is not a political organization.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just really disappointed in them for not supporting trans people. I thought our partnership was stronger than that,\u201d Paulsen said of the meeting. \u201cBut we\u2019re still here. We\u2019ve offered to educate any of their staff about trans girls in sports and things like that. And right now, they\u2019ve chosen not to take that offer, but I\u2019m hoping maybe that will change.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published by\u00a0The 19th.<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cherylreeve-1.png\")
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve reacts in the second half against the Indiana Fever on August 2. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/wnba-lgbtq-fans-trans-athletes-sophie-cunningham.png\")
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