RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Sophie Cunningham said what she said. And then she said it again. On July 21, the Indiana Fever guard said she wanted to “protect young girls in the locker room” and that “they shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” When asked again about those comments, she didn’t hedge, apologize, or walk it back. “I said what I said.” Full stop.
In a culture that has spent years punishing women for stating that sex is real and women deserve their own sports and spaces , Cunningham’s refusal to retreat landed like one of her three-pointers.
She was not suspended by the WNBA . Her team did not bench her. Adidas did not drop her—in fact, the brand released a collaboration shoe capitalizing on the moment. None of her other sponsors (Arby’s, Ring, Quest Nutrition) walked away either.
That is progress. But it is not victory.
The Fever issued a careful statement distancing the organization from her views: “We are committed to welcoming fans from every background and treating everyone with respect, and that’s what guides us as an organization.”
Other players publicly condemned her. On July 22, Las Vegas Aces forward Brianna Turner wrote on X, “I’ve been an advocate for the trans community since I entered the WNBA. So many takes about them are based on fear mongering and bigotry.”
It seemed to many observers that this was aimed at Cunningham. Not one teammate or rival has stood beside Cunningham and said, “She’s right, and I agree.”
She remains the only high-profile professional female athlete in the WNBA—or any pro league—to make a full-throated, unapologetic defense of women’s sports and then refuse to retreat. There has been no flood of other stars finding their courage.
Yet something else is happening, and it is harder to ignore.
When the Fever played in Seattle on July 28—deep-blue, progressive Seattle—fans showed up for Sophie.
Outside the Climate Pledge Arena, her supporters gathered for a rally, while a smaller counterdemonstration stood close by. Inside the building, the atmosphere was mixed: some booed Cunningham, others cheered. But the balance had shifted. The people who believe girls and women deserve their own category in sport were no longer the lonely ones.
One of those fans sat in the front row. Ahnaleigh Wilson is a 16-year-old high school track and cross-country runner from East Wenatchee, Washington. She became known for competing against biological males in state track events and refusing to pretend it was fair. She came to the game to support Cunningham, holding a sign that read, “Thank you Sophie for Speaking Up For Girls” and wearing a shirt from my athletic brand XX-XY Athletics. The logo is a statement about our belief in the immutable differences between women and men.
What happened next should not surprise anyone who has followed this fight. Celeste Keaton, a co-owner of the Seattle Storm, allegedly approached Wilson and berated her. According to Wilson, Keaton cursed at her and said she hoped Jesus could forgive her for the “sin” she had committed.
Storm majority-owner Ginny Gilder made a statement about the incident, saying, “We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night’s game. We apologize that this happened.” It’s been reported that Keaton was suspended for Storm’s next five home games and fined an undisclosed sum by the WNBA.
Wilson was left in tears, but what she told me was significant. “For Sophie to speak up for girls like me is huge. She has a lot to lose and she was courageous, bold and strong and she didn’t back down.”
Cunningham’s refusal to fold did not instantly convert the locker room. It did something more valuable. It told a 16-year-old girl in Washington that she is not alone.
Wilson continued, “My friend and I were so excited to be at the game to support Sophie. It was obvious that our shirts and our signs were not welcome. And especially when one of the owners came up to us and yelled at us. It made us feel incredibly defeated and like we were trash.”
There have been real institutional wins lately. The IOC’s updated framework in January. The Supreme Court ruling in June. The WTA’s rule change in July. Each one chipped away at the fiction that men who identify as women belong in the female category.
Cunningham is the human face of the cultural shift those rulings reflect. But it is incomplete. Adidas has not said: “We support Sophie Cunningham, and we support protecting women’s sports.” The brand is willing to sell the shoe. It is not willing to stand behind the principle.
The league and most of its players remain in the same posture—carefully neutral or actively hostile.
The culture is moving, but the institutions that profit from women’s sports are still lagging.
In Seattle, Cunningham was booed by some in the building and cheered by teenage girls across the country. That is the new reality. The old one has not fully died. The berating of Ahnaleigh Wilson proves it. The absence of other players willing to say “I agree” proves it. The careful corporate distancing proves it.
We are not done. The question now is whether more women with platforms will decide the risk is worth taking, or whether Cunningham will remain an exception instead of the beginning of a norm.
The girls watching are waiting to see who else is willing to say it out loud.
Jennifer Sey is a former U.S. gymnast and the founder and CEO of clothing company XX-XY Athletics, which advocates for women and girls in sports based on biological sex.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own
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