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WNBA star Sophie Cunningham has been widely accused of having conservative politics <\/a>\u2014 partly because she is white and from Missouri, as she has pointed out, but also partly because she has never flatly denied being conservative. In a new ESPN profile, Cunningham fought back against assumptions about her politics while perhaps offering some insight into where those assumptions came from.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very much in the middle,\u201d Cunningham told ESPN<\/a> of her political views. She explained that there are things she agrees with and disagrees with on \u201cboth sides\u201d of the aisle. \u201cAnd that\u2019s all I\u2019ve ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume,\u201d Cunningham said. She also said people have accused her of hating trans people, but \u201cI never once said that.\u201d<\/p>\n What she did say, however, was that she wants to \u201cprotect women\u2019s sports,\u201d suggesting she doesn\u2019t think trans women should be allowed to participate. \u201cI think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn\u2019t have to go against biological men.\u201d<\/p>\n Cunningham\u2019s concern about\u00a0\u201cbiological men\u201d sounds a lot like the\u00a0popular conservative talking point that baselessly frames trans women as a threat to cisgender female athletes<\/a>. The Trump administration has used the same fear-mongering argument to pass a flurry of anti-trans executive orders<\/a>, including allowing federal agencies to withhold funds from organizations that don\u2019t abide by an interpretation of Title IX that defines \u201csex\u201d as the gender a person is assigned at birth.<\/p>\n In June, the Supreme Court\u2019s conservative supermajority issued another blow to trans rights, ruling that states can ban transgender athletes<\/a> from participating in girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports. \u201cTo the Court, the facts do not matter, even though the consequences are serious,\u201d Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in one of three dissents. \u201cSports, of course, are often zero sum, but the law need not and should not be.\u201d I guess Cunningham disagrees.<\/p>\n Stay in touch.<\/p>\n The latest in style, self, culture, and power in your inbox.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n