{"id":860907,"date":"2026-09-26T03:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/860907\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T03:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:16:16","slug":"lynx-coach-cheryl-reeve-voices-support-for-the-trans-community-again-after-regular-season-finale-vs-fever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/860907\/","title":{"rendered":"Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve voices support for the trans community again after regular season finale vs Fever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Minnesota Lynx<\/a> head coach Cheryl Reeve again voiced support for the transgender community Thursday, as competing rallies over trans athletes in women’s sports raged outside her team’s game for the third time this season.<\/p>\n

Reeve addressed the issue after Minnesota closed the regular season with an 86-66 victory over the Indiana Fever<\/a> at Target Center. The remarks marked at least the fourth time this season that Reeve has discussed transgender issues during a WNBA media session.<\/p>\n

“I think that\u2019s probably one of the more meaningful things that would mark the season for me,” Reeve said. “It\u2019s that the transgender community is one that deserves our support, and what is happening in the name of some issues of transgender in sports \u2014 it\u2019s really an attack on all transgender community. They don\u2019t want transgender people to exist.”<\/p>\n

FORMER VIKINGS CAPTAIN JACK BREWER CALLS OUT LYNX COACH CHERYL REEVE FOR ‘TRANS KIDS BELONG’ SHIRT<\/a><\/p>\n

Reeve previously wore a “Trans Kids Belong” T-shirt during the Lynx\u2019s previous home game against Indiana on Aug. 2. That game came shortly after Fever guard Sophie Cunningham publicly supported keeping biological males out of women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports.<\/p>\n

“Save Women’s Sports” activists then held another rally in support of Fever star Sophie Cunningham<\/a> outside of the Target Center for the second time this season on Thursday, again prompting pro-trans counterprotesters. A similar rally took place outside of the Lynx’s game against the Golden State Valkyries on Aug. 19.<\/p>\n

\"Cheryl <\/p>\n

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a \u2018Trans Kids Belong\u2019 shirt as the Lynx faced Sophie Cunningham\u2019s Fever, adding new fuel to the WNBA\u2019s trans-athlete debate. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)<\/p>\n

During the Aug. 2 game between the Lynx and Fever, Reeve and Cunningham were seen speaking at midcourt before that contest. Reeve later said the two understood they had platforms and shared an interest in educating people despite disagreeing on the issue.<\/p>\n

Reeve said Thursday that wearing the shirt was a “small gesture,” but messages from transgender people and their families made it one of the most meaningful moments of her season.<\/p>\n

“The amount of communication of people who were affected by something as simple as wearing a T-shirt in support of them and helping them be seen \u2014 with the platform that we have in professional sports, it was a small gesture by me,” Reeve said. “It\u2019s something I believe in, obviously, wholeheartedly.”<\/p>\n

“If I could have helped just one to feel differently about themselves, because for the transgender community this really is about life and death for them,” she continued. “The number of parents of transgender kids that I heard from and how it helped them and their families, it helped their child think differently about themselves and that there is someone in our position, like we have as a leader. To know that there are people out there that believe in them, that they belong.”<\/p>\n

WNBPA ISSUES STATEMENT EMBRACING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AMID TRANS ATHLETE DEBATE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sophie <\/p>\n

Sophie Cunningham supporters rally outside the Target Center in Minneapolis on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (Courtesy of Kendall Kotzmacher)<\/p>\n

Reeve first addressed the subject during a July media availability following the Supreme Court\u2019s rulings upholding state laws restricting transgender participation in women\u2019s sports. She called the political focus on the issue “sort of sickening” and said “exclusion is never the answer.”<\/p>\n

She returned to it before the Lynx\u2019s Aug. 2 meeting with Indiana, when a rally supporting Cunningham\u2019s position was held outside Target Center. Reeve defended the demonstrators\u2019 right to assemble but rejected the argument that transgender athletes represented one of the most pressing problems facing women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

“Every kid has a right to sports, regardless of gender diverse, transgender,” Reeve said at the time, while acknowledging that eligibility questions become more nuanced after puberty.<\/p>\n

Following the game, Reeve addressed her conversation with Cunningham<\/a> and reiterated her belief that transgender children should have access to sports. She also said activists focusing on transgender participation were overlooking other obstacles facing female athletes, including inadequate facilities, uniforms and locker rooms.<\/p>\n

SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY OUTKICK NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n

Cunningham has maintained that her position is not rooted in hatred.<\/p>\n

\"Cheryl <\/p>\n

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve reacts in the second half against the Indiana Fever at Target Center on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Star Tribune via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I think that I am here to extend love,” Cunningham previously said. “But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn\u2019t have to go against biological men.”<\/p>\n

The debate prompted the WNBA to convene discussions with team leaders during the season. The league said there were no immediate transgender eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, while maintaining that fairness, competitive integrity and inclusion were among its priorities. No transgender woman has played in the league.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

Minnesota finished the regular season with a league-best 33-11 record after Thursday\u2019s victory. Indiana fell to 28-16 and entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.<\/p>\n

Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve again voiced support for the transgender community Thursday, as competing rallies over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[2839,1077,259870,99,434],"class_list":["post-860907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-indiana-fever","tag-minnesota-lynx","tag-outkick-sports","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}