The Indiana Fever defeated the Seattle Storm 105-95 on Tuesday night in the first night of regular-season action for the WNBA after the All-Star break. However, instead of the Fever’s three-game winning streak entering the game, a lot of the coverage surrounding the Fever was on comments reserve guard Sophie Cunningham made regarding transgender athletes.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham said via a profile on her published by ESPN. “I think that I am here to extend love. 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’t have to go against biological men.”
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Cunningham’s words became a hot-topic issue, with people weighing in from all over the media, intense debates being had online, and even rallies being planned.
After the game, WNBA reporter Roberta Rodrigues, who rebuked Cunningham’s comments and the rally tied to them on social media, asked head coach Stephanie White, who is married to journalist Lisa Salters, about the situation.
“Coach, there was a rally before the game, an anti-trans rally before the game, inspired by Sophie Cunningham,” Rodrigues started. “As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, how did you receive her comments and the way it ignited the right-wing and anti-trans supporters? And for the players, have you had conversations in the locker room about it?”
