Sophie Cunningham, one of the WNBA’s biggest stars, is standing up to protect women’s sports and is saying she opposes allowing men who identify as women to play in women’s sports.
Speaking to ESPN, Cunningham came out publicly to clarify her feelings on the topic of transgender athletes and, while she made it clear that she does not hate transgender people, she nonetheless added that they do not belong in women’s sports.
“You say she’s a ‘MAGA Barbie,’ as some corners of the internet have taken to calling her? Projection, she says, because of what she looks like and where she’s from. She’ll weigh in on how to ‘protect women’s sports,’ she says, because she’s in that world and feels qualified to speak to that world,” ESPN wrote ahead of her comments.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham replied.
“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,” she said.
“I’m very much in the middle. I agree with things on both sides, disagree with things on both sides. And that’s all I’ve ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume,” the 6-foot-1 guard added.
Cunningham has certainly been fearless in her persona. Where fellow teammate Caitlin Clark has often been seen knuckling under to the extreme, progressive, left-wing ideals that many WNBA players constantly spew, Cunningham has stuck true to her own ethos.
The 29-year-old pro basketballer has spoken out against trans athletes in women’s sports before, but not as directly as she did in the ESPN interview.
As far back as 2022, for instance, she made a move against infamous trans swimmer Lia Thomas, who was a male identifying as a female on the UPenn women’s swimming team and who was knocking women out of records and medals at the time. Cunningham reshared a post about Thomas on social media that said: “Female collegiate athletes deserve so much better than this.”
After backlash from leftists, Cunningham explained, but did not apologize for resharing the negative comments about Thomas, Fox News reported.
“To my teammates, friends, family, supporters and fans, you know that I stand with all people, especially my fellow athletes. I do not judge, but support all races, religions, sexual preferences and gender equity. We all have a place in this world to compete, and I hope we are able to grant everyone that opportunity fairly,” she wrote in reply to those unhappy that she seemed to oppose transgender athletes.
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