- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,245,923
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham
Credit: Soobum Im/Getty; Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Caitlin Clark is speaking out after Sophie Cunningham’s anti-transgender comments
- Clark told reporters that the team’s focus is “on basketball,” and that the issue is for the league and “governing bodies to do the work”
- Cunningham first voiced her opinion on the topic in an interview with ESPN last week
Caitlin Clark is speaking out for the first time amid the controversy surrounding her Indiana Fever teammate, Sophie Cunningham, regarding comments made on trans athletes in women’s sports.
“I think it’s for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions,” Clark, 24, told reporters following the Indiana Fever’s 108-100 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday, Aug. 2.
“Our focus is on basketball. That’s what we talk about and how we can get wins and obviously we didn’t do that tonight. So we need to find an area to improve in that way,” Clark continued.
The WNBA star’s stance comes days after Cunningham, 29, drew both ire and support for her opinion on the matter, which she first shared with ESPN last month.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans,” Cunningham said, per ESPN. “And I’m like, ‘I never once said that.’”
Follow your favorite athletes on and off the field with PEOPLE’s free sports newsletter — sign up now!
She continued, “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.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Sophie Cunningham
Credit: Christian Petersen/Getty
On Sunday in Minneapolis, fans wore T-shirts that read, “Trans kids belong in sports,” while outside the arena, other fans held up signs that read, “Love is truth” and “Thank you Sophie.”
Before the game, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve — sporting a “Trans kids belong” shirt — met with Cunningham at mid-court, where they were seen speaking animatedly.
“Both of us understand that we have platforms and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate,” Reeve, 59, told reporters after the game, refusing to disclose further details about their talk. “There are some things that we have in common, and maybe some things you differ on, just like any issues. I think it’s how you handle things. It was nice to be in person, for sure.”
For Cunningham’s part, she maintains that her worldview is one of “love.”
“I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I’m full of love,” she said on Friday, July 31. “I’m bubbly. I love the people around me. I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light.”
She added that it “doesn’t even cross my mind” — or her teammates’ — as to whether her comments have been a distraction.
Read the original article on People
Continue reading...
