When it comes to saying what needs to be said, WNBA star Sophie Cunningham is doing just that in a way that Senate Democrats won’t.
In a July 21 ESPN article, Cunningham spoke out against men competing in women’s sports, saying, “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
And when pressed about it by the media, Cunningham stood by her comments, saying “I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense.”
As it turns out, the majority of Americans agree with her. Yet Senate Democrats are continuing to campaign for office on allowing men to take advantage of women in competition.
Nearly 80 percent of Americans oppose biological men competing in women’s sports, according to a New York Times poll. The same survey showed 67 percent of Democrats oppose men in women’s sports.
American shoppers seems to agree as well. On Friday, Adidas released a Cunningham-branded version of its Crazy Energy basketball shoe. By 10 a.m., the product had sold out. Despite the media’s best attempts at smearing Cunningham, she hasn’t lost her credibility for standing by her “common sense” comments.
Meanwhile, many Senate Democrats and Senate hopefuls are continuing to campaign on a message that is largely unpopular with the American people.
The newest addition to the Senate race, Maine’s Troy Jackson, has consistently voted against protecting women’s sports. As a state senator, Jackson voted on legislation that prevented schools from banning men in women’s sports. He also opposed a bill that would have prohibited biological men from entering women’s locker rooms.
Georgia’s own Senator Jon Ossoff voted against protecting girls’ sports not once, not twice, but three times — even as 73 percent of Georgians support a ban on men in women’s sports. Instead, Ossoff co-sponsored legislation that would allow men to compete in women’s sports and would allow them to use women’s locker rooms.
Yet despite acting against his constituents’ priorities, Ossoff is asking that Georgians trust him to remain in the Senate.
As governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper vetoed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. Rather than protecting young girls, Cooper turned the matter into a political issue and pointed to colleagues across the aisle for creating the problem, saying the bill was “neither fair nor needed.”
“We don’t need politicians inflaming their political culture wars by making broad, uninformed decisions about an extremely small number of vulnerable children,” he added.
The North Carolina legislature ultimately overrode Cooper’s veto, but it’s clear that the governor-turned-Senate-hopeful is unwilling to support values clearly held by his constituents.
At the same time, Texas’ James Talarico, who called God “non-binary” on the Texas House floor, has consistently voted against bills that would ban men from competing in women’s sports. Instead of acting to protect young girls, Talarico has dismissed the issue, calling it a “far-right conspiracy.”
In a similar move, Alaska’s Mary Peltola has called bills like the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which she voted against, “bullying” and “federal overreach.”
But what Peltola doesn’t acknowledge is the harassment and bullying experienced by many of the girls competing against boys. In this year’s Supreme Court case, West Virginia v. B.P.J., two high school girls and their families alleged that the transgender student involved in the case sexually harassed and intimidated the girls on his team and on opposing teams, ultimately forcing one girl to resign from the team and quit the sport altogether.
It’s not “bullying” to protect girls, nor is the issue a “far-right conspiracy.” It’s a real problem affecting real girls. The vast majority of Americans understand this and oppose left-wing efforts to harm young girls, but Peltola and fellow Senate Democrats haven’t caught on yet.
Cunningham, meanwhile, is doing something right in advocating for this issue and standing by her statements under pressure. Democrat Senators and Senate hopefuls should take note and promote the common sense values voters actually support.
Tayte Christensen is a published writer and investigative journalist. Her work has been featured in national publications, including The Washington Examiner, Townhall, and The Daily Caller.