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. In the wake of Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham’s comments about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, the WNBA is evaluating its own policy on the matter.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans,” Cunningham told ESPN back in March , though her comments recently resurfaced, causing a social media firestorm.
“And I'm like, ‘I never once said that.’ 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.”
The WNBA doesn’t currently have any specific rules regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes; however, the current CBA states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”
That may be about to change in the not-so-distant future.
According to ESPN, the league has assembled a task force of team presidents and general managers to examine the WNBA’s eligibility rules for transgender athletes after former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White both declared for the 2027 WNBA draft.
“We will approach these important conversations thoughtfully and in alignment with the values of our league,” the league said in a statement. “There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.”
The WNBA has never had a transgender athlete play in the league.
The topic has divided the league’s fan base. Protestors and counter-protestors r ecently gathered at a Fever-Seattle Storm game in support of and opposition of Cunningham’s comments.
It’s clear addressing the issue is at the top of the WNBA’s to-do list.
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