The growing debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports, reignited by Sophie Cunningham, has once again put the WNBA in the spotlight, this time ahead of the game between the Minnesota Lynx and the Golden State Valkyries. With another rally planned outside Chase Center, the head coaches of both teams are speaking out.
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It began with Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who was asked about her stance on the rallies. Reeve made it clear that she was fully in support of trans athletes and children.
“I don’t want to give them any more oxygen than they deserve,” she said, per reporter Conrado Pascual on X.
“As I’ve said this before, transgender kids belong, and I think as we’re seeing sort of politically in this country, they found a talking point that people are buying into. And the only thing I ask is that people educate themselves further on these issues and what we’re capable of doing when we work on something together, and that something is not used as simply rhetoric to marginalize a community that does not deserve marginalization.”
Since Cunningham’s initial statements to ESPN regarding protecting women’s sports, there have been around seven rallies in her support, including during the Indiana-Lynx game on August 2. In fact, when Indiana visited Scotiabank Arena to play the Toronto Tempo, Cunningham supporters organized the first rally outside the U.S., with Canadian powerlifter April Hutchinson leading the event.
Still, in early August, Reeve had the same stance.
“We need to protect trans kids,” Reeve said before the August 2 game against Indiana. “To me, it’s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports.”
After Reeve’s comments on August 19, reporters asked Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase about the rally, too. Nakase called for a more compassionate approach to the debate.
“In the world and in sports right now, there’s too much hate that’s going on,” she said in a video posted to X by reporter Jackson Thompson.
“I would highly suggest people continue to lead with love. I love to lead with love. I don’t think the word love has been expressed enough. For me, I want to continue to share that and also just continue to support because I know when we, you know, our love on each other, like we bring the best out of each other.”
Her comments are consistent with her earlier stances. For instance, on August 2, she was asked about the rallies in support of Sophie Cunningham before Golden State’s game against the Toronto Tempo.
“I think, just in terms of how I’m seeing it is, if I can answer, for me sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self,” Nakase said then. “I’m all about women, little girls deserving to play, and that includes trans women. So I’m all about inclusivity.”
What began as Cunningham’s stance has evolved into a topic generating discussion league-wide, and we can be sure to expect more opinions as the debate shows no signs of ending.