RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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On Sunday, Caitlin Clark spoke to the media for the first time since rallies supporting her Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham began popping up before games. Crowds have gathered to support and to oppose Cunningham after she made comments about banning transgender people from girls' and women's sports.
"I think, for us, it's not really a discussion we really have in our locker room," Clark said in the postgame press conference, when asked about how she and her teammates have navigated the conversations around the rallies and Cunningham's comments. "I think it's for leagues and the governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions, but 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."
When asked a follow-up question, Clark -- who was clearly frustrated after the Fever's 108-100 loss to the Minnesota Lynx , which ended the Fever's five-game winning streak -- cut the reporter off and said, "I just answered for you."
Ahead of the game in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, the Associated Press reported that there were demonstrations both in support of Cunningham's comments and in support of the transgender community -- including someone on a loudspeaker saying, "Protect trans women" and signs that read, "Thank you Sophie."
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who has been vocal about her support of the transgender community over the years, including in the days leading up to the Fever clash, wore a shirt during the game that said, "Trans kids belong." She was seen talking with Cunningham during pregame warm-ups, and though she didn't disclose details about their conversation postgame, it appeared to end on friendly terms.
"Both of us understand that we have platforms and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate," Reeve said. "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."
In July, Cunningham said in an ESPN profile that she wanted to "protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men." She has since doubled down on those comments.
"I said what I said. I think it's kind of common sense," Cunningham said on July 22. "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."
After the WNBA All-Star game, an organization that is dedicated to pushing for legislation that bans transgender people from women and girls' sports began hosting small, well-organized and highly publicized rallies outside of road Fever games, beginning in Seattle. A Storm minority co-owner confronted two teenage members of the group sitting courtside over their pro-Cunningham signs. The co-owner was subsequently banned for five Storm home games and fined.
Another rally took place in Portland before the Fever's win over the Fire on Friday night. A Fire season ticket holder reported being spat on by a fan who was yelling homophobic and transphobic slurs during the game, and the incident is being investigated by police and the Fire organization, per The Oregonian .
Cunningham said she did not believe that her comments and the rallies they inspired were a distraction to her teammates.
"I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I'm full of love. I'm bubbly. I love the people around me," Cunningham said Friday. "I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn't even cross my mind. Doesn't cross my teammates' minds."
On Saturday, Reeve gave a lengthy response to reporters when asked about Cunningham's comments and the pre-game rally planned by her supporters.
You can listen to her comments in full here.
Cheryl Reeve speaking on the trans rally that is planned prior to the Indiana Fever game Sunday and her views around trans athletes and Women’s sports Full video below: I don’t feel it’s right to clip or cut out snippets for quotes, so if you have time, give it a listen. pic.twitter.com/56NAo30aPq
Reeve covered a lot of ground in that statement, noting that she supported the right of Cunningham's supporters to protest peacefully, whether she agrees with them or not, and asking for WNBA leadership to step up and make sure that everyone is feeling safe and supported. She also said that she has been pushing the WNBA to be proactive on this issue for years and establish guidelines for transgender participation in the league.
But the crux of her comments centered around finding a path of inclusion for the transgender community in sports and in pushing back on narratives that paint transgender people as predators in the space:
I come from a space of inclusion, and the narrative that I think that is problematic is to suggest that ... transgender athletes are the biggest problem in [women's] sports. 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. We have some issues. Number one, we need to protect trans kids. To me, it's a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports, regardless of [whether they are] gender diverse, transgender. Every kid has the right to access. Now, what gets nuanced is, you know, when you're beyond puberty, when you're in Olympic sport, when you have scholarships 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 "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. That is simply not what's happening.
Also on Sunday,...
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