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Over the past several days, Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has sparked a lot of conversation throughout the WNBA about whether or not transgender women belong in women’s sports. Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was one of the voices who weighed in on the matter, and now she’s getting some praise from ESPN.
During ESPN’s broadcast of Sunday’s game between the Minnesota Lynx and Cunningham’s Indiana Fever, ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo praised Reeve for her “incredibly thoughtful” comments on the issue.
Cunningham Spoke Out on Trans Athletes
During a recent interview for an ESPN profile, Cunningham was asked about her political beliefs – specifically, the “MAGA Barbie” nickname that has followed her in recent months. In her response, the Fever star spoke out against trans athletes.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” she told 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.”
A few days later, Cunningham doubled down on her controversial stance.
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said earlier this week. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”
Cunningham addressed the issue for a third time in a post on X while responding to a recent incident involving two teenage girls who alleged they were verbally confronted by a Seattle Storm co-owner, who has since been suspended.
“I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind,” Cunningham wrote in a post on X. “Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon yay for gifts. Truly embarrassing of the co-owner.”
Cunningham was not made available to the media following the team’s win over the Seattle Storm this week, but before Friday night’s game against the Portland Fire, Cunningham made it clear that she has no intention of running or hiding from the criticism she has been receiving.
Reeve Weighs In
Ahead of Sunday’s game against Cunningham and the Fever, Reeve offered her thoughts on the issue, saying that she feels viewing transgender athletes as a threat to women’s sorts as problematic itself.
“I come from a space of inclusion. And the narrative that I think that is problematic is to suggest that, uh, number one, that transgender athletes are the biggest problem in women’s sports. And I think this is what’s bothersome, is that there’s a faction of people in our country that are making this a massive issue.”
Reeve went on to say that it’s important to “protect trans kids”
“Number one, we need to protect trans kids. Every kid— to me, it’s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports regardless of gender diverse, transgender. Every kid has the right to access,” she said.
She continued, “Now, what gets nuanced is, you know, when you’re beyond puberty, when you’re in Olympic sport, when you’re— we have scholarships at stake and that sort of thing. That’s where I say that common sense people get together, and you find common ground to find a way to be inclusive.
“The answer isn’t no. It is not the case that we have, quote, biological men in girls’ locker rooms, the way it’s being phrased, the innuendo there that somehow transgender women are predators of some kind in the locker room. There’s a lot of narrative that is problematic that we need to address…
“The issue isn’t, isn’t as big as the issues that we have in women’s sports. You know, whether it’s, you know, cisgender men that have held us down for years in spaces like being able to have access to facilities and uniforms and locker rooms, all the things that these young girls that are sitting at games with anti-trans signs, do they understand actually what the real problems are and what they’re— and how they’re being marginalized? We’re still not in a space where we have equality. We don’t even have the Equal Rights Amendment in all 50 states, right? So there’s real issues.”
Reeve added to this stance on Sunday when she wore a shirt to the game that read “trans kids belong.”
ESPN Praises Reeve
During its broadcast of Sunday’s game, ESPN praised Reeve for her “incredibly thoughtful” comments on the situation.
“We see Cheryl Reeve wearing a shirt today in support of trans kids – ‘trans kids belong’ on the shirt. This in the aftermath of Sophie Cunningham’s recent comments,” ESPN’s Ryan Ruocco said during the broadcast. “We actually saw Cheryl and Sophie speaking at center court pregame.
“Yesterday, Cheryl Reeves spent a lot of time at length with the media about this topic,” he continued.
“I would encourage anyone to go and listen to Cheryl Reeves’ comments. Incredibly thoughtful. Easy to find online and I would just encourage anyone to go and listen,” ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo added.
The post ‘Incredibly thoughtful’: ESPN praises Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve for saying ‘protect trans kids’ appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.
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