WNBA Debates Transgender Participation Following Dream's Game
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At least three fans were asked by WNBA security personnel to cover shirts that had messages about transgender women participating in women's sports during Sunday's game at Atlanta between the Dream and the Indiana Fever.
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The Guardian SportAt least three fans were asked by WNBA security personnel to cover shirts that had messages about transgender women participating in women’s sports during Sunday’s game in Atlanta between the Dream and the Indiana Fever.
ESPNWNBA: Security wrong to ask fans to cover shirts At least three fans were asked by WNBA security personnel to cover shirts that had messages about transgender women participating in women's sports during Sunday's Fever-Dream game. The league said Monday the fans should have been free to wear the shirts.
CBS SportsThe WNBA acknowledged Monday that fans at Sunday's game between the Atlanta Dream and Indiana Fever should not have been asked to cover up shirts with messaging related to transgender athletes.
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The Dream said the team was not involved in the security personnel's actions. "The Atlanta Dream believes in creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. Unfortunately, at last night's game, WNBA security took actions that fell short of that standard," the Dream said in a statement "At no point was Dream personnel involved in the decisions made by WNBA security."
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The Guardian SportThe Dream said the team was not involved in the security personnel’s actions. “The Atlanta Dream believes in creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. Unfortunately, at last night’s game, WNBA security took actions that fell short of that standard,” the Dream said in a statement. “At no point was Dream personnel involved in the decisions made by WNBA security.”
CBS Sports"The Atlanta Dream believes in creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. Unfortunately, at last night's game, WNBA security took actions that fell short of that standard," the Dream wrote in a statement. "At no point were Dream personnel involved in the decisions made by WNBA security."
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Sophie Cunningham of the Fever said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls' and women's sports. Her stance led to small rallies and protests outside Fever games at Seattle and Portland, and Storm minority owner Celeste Keaton was given a five-game ban for confronting two fans who had signs supporting Cunningham.
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The Guardian SportSophie Cunningham of the Fever said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Her stance led to small rallies and protests outside Fever games in Seattle and Portland, and Storm minority owner Celeste Keaton was given a five-game ban for confronting two fans who had signs supporting Cunningham.
CBS SportsWNBA has become battle ground for debate about transgender athletes In an ESPN profile last month, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said, as part of a discussion about her political views, that she wants to "protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."
Yahoo SportsCunningham has become one of the WNBA's most polarizing players after publicly expressing her belief that transgender women should not compete in women's sports. Her comments attracted new supporters while also generating criticism and protests. The moderators' apparent goal was to prevent political arguments, trolling and an influx of users with little previous involvement in the subreddit. However, filtering Cunningham's name also affected basketball discussions, birthday messages and other posts that did not violate the community's stated purpose.
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The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women – people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity – should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA. Although the league’s collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth.
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Bleacher ReportThe WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women — people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity — should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA. Although the league's collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth.
CBS SportsSince then, the WNBA has become a battleground in the debate about transgender athletes, despite the fact that the league has never had a transgender player and does not have a public policy about transgender participation. The new collective bargaining agreement states simply that, "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA."
4 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 CBS Sports She doubled down on those comments when asked about them prior to the Fever's win over the Connecticut Sun on July 22.
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02 Yahoo Sports WNBA forced to clarify Sophie Cunningham stance after Reddit controversy erupts originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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03 Bleacher Report The league said in a statement Monday that the fans should have been free to wear the shirts.
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04 The Guardian Sport The league said in a statement Monday that the fans should have been allowed to wear the shirts.
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- guardian-sport
- yahoosports
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- bleacherreport
- cbssports