US women’s sports star Sophie Cunningham speaking up on defending women's sports

[fromorbit]

Big development. In the US few big women's sports stars have dared to speak up in the defence of women having sports. Lots of coverage of this going viral. Demands that the WBNA [Women's Basketball league] take action against her.

Sophie Cunningham says it’s ‘common sense’ to keep trans athletes out of women’s sports

In the ESPN article, Cunningham said she wanted to “protect young girls in the locker room” and that “they shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said before Indiana’s 123-88 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7464960/2026/07/22/sophie-cunningham-trans-comments-womens-sports/

Trump Whitehouse speaking up in Cunningham's support so getting political.
https://www.aol.com/articles/sophie-cunningham-backed-white-house-003500000.html

Despite the recent Supreme Court verdict which said women can have sports a lot of Democratic leading states are continuing to say they should not have their own sports, but only mixed sex competitions.

Likely to be an ongoing political issue and be a topic in the upcoming midterms.

I'm sure Sophie Cunningham is pre-armed for the hate coming her way.

She looks well armed to me. Mole at the Counter on X did this -

Classic Reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/s/zzdUIBKWCc

What was the pointing about? I saw all the videos but didn’t find a reliable explanation of what she was highlighting. Clearly she’s not someone to annoy! She was great- uncompromising, and an excellent communicator.
Go Sophie!

From what I could find out there was a player on another team who would get frustrated and passive aggressively point at players (or just Sophie?) presumably calling out what they perceived were fouls or whatever, so Sophie started doing it back to wind her up and it drove the other player mad. They’re fun to watch lol.

It's refreshing to read about someone standing up and being counted, I love the pic with the 0 fucks given top. 😁

The best of luck to her, it could be a pivotal moment when someone this popular takes a stand, count down to the counterfactual movements demise. 🥳

Love is Honesty. (I'm happy to help spread the word) 😂

My sketchy outline of the context is that she was involved in a 'kerfuffle' during a match and got penalised, and was pointing at another player who should also have been.
So it seems to have been ' I see you, yes you, the ref may have missed it but I didn't, and I'm pointing you out so everybody sees you'.

Open to correction!

One of the great ironies is that TRA has never been weaker, despite it being so ever present.
Riley Gaines was monstered less than 5 years ago, hell, even JKR a billionaire, nearly went under early on.
Sophie is proving that one can speak up and more than in the past repel the shit coming one's way.
I'm not saying that's easy for any nurse in the NHS finding men in their changing rooms, or my two female friends harrassed by TIMs in their toilets, but the tide feels on the turn.
What makes TRA seem so intractable has been the culture of silence around it, and that the mantra is transmitted vertically (the cult) and horizontally (the virtue signal).
Sophie is not just fighting those that impose the belief, but also those alongside her who transmit the virtue signal to maintain group solidity.
Her speaking out risks her future career prospects and her day to day friendships/cooperation.

What tickles me about this is that she very clearly said 'biological men', and yet the TRAs and their allies have immediately jumped on it, claiming she said 'trans athletes' or 'trans women'.

Which says to me they know EXACTLY what a trans woman is, because how else could they leap to such a conclusion?

Re the pointing- someone on X has done a mock up of an excellent hoodie, with an image of her pointing and the slogan 'I said what I said' on it.

When the most highly paid barristers representing trans IDing clients in court accidentally misgender them, over and over again, then it's no surprise the brain dead activists can't obfuscate the impossible to reconcile confusion at the heart of their ideology.
And thus why Sophie's messaging is as clear as a crystal lake.

I liked the line from the Newsweek article: 'outrage loses its power - there's just no currency in outrage any more'

So that's two slogans: 'love is truth' and 'I said what I said'

The shoes sold out in both women's and men's 🙂

Look at the journalists mentioned in this article who came for her.
All female.
Not just unconnected hacks, but sports journalists, one of which Sophie's own sport.
Hacks is too good a word for them.
Let's call them regime quislings.
I followed the story of sheer destruction of women's college volleyball on Quillette.
One single TIM player, his teammates and rival players cowed into submission, the team coach happy to throw his own players to the wolves, a media that didn't do its job, and the whole sport was corrupted.
Looks like Sophie Cunningham is here to draw a line in the sand.
A hero in an era that George Orwell would recognise all too well if he were alive today.

The pointing she became a sensation for was in defense of her teammate, Caitlyn Clark. (Although she has done it before!) It’s so cute, everyone who takes a picture with her wants her to do the point with them. She volunteers with little girl ballers and the team pic was doing the point with her!

Here’s the exact situation that brought about the point seen ‘round the world, hehe:

Caitlyn Clark is by far the best player in the league, many say in their history. She scored 45 points in her last game. Caitlyn is regularly physically targeted by opposing team members and this time she took a forearm/hand to the throat and neck area that should have been called a foul but was not. (The offending player was later suspended by the league for a game.)

The treatment of Caitlyn is a whole other ball of wax that I won’t get into here, but she gets a lot of physical cheap shots that don’t get called and a lot of unfair treatment.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2026/06/25/alyssa-thomas-caitlin-clark-punch-throat-wnba-suspended-fined/90694644007/

Well dangit, I thought the outrageous throat punch picture would show up, but if you click the link it’s there. Sophie is a great teammate, because she also got a foul called on her for a little payback later in the game!

WOW! That says it all, doesn’t it? 😍 Suck it, haters! Athletic, gets involved with young girl ballers who want to follow in her footsteps, smart, gorgeous, what’s not to love?

Whatever else you may label that grifter as being, poor is completely inaccurate.

Sorry Polly, Thomas was the grifter. Not good enough to make his mark in men's swimming, so thought he'd swing his dick in women's swimming.
You can make any argument you like about Gaines, but when it comes down to it, she was at least in the correct category.
Of course, if there was a category for cheating bastard, dear Lia would be a perfect fit.
Just not the one he chose.

And by that grifter you mean the mediocre male swimmer who cheated his way to the top by declaring himself a woman.

Drama still building. The fact the Adidas shoe sold out completely in 24 hours is huge.

Cunningham has multiple endorsement deals. Currently, she has partnerships with big-name brands such as Adidas, Arby’s and Wuest Nutrition, to name a few.

The attacks on Cunningham are desperate. Following the daft line plastic surgery is same as trans surgery.

Social Media Troll Accuses Sophie Cunningham of “Gender-Affirming Surgery” After Trans Comments — Posts Collage Evidence With Over 4.6 Million Views
https://www.newsbreak.com/total-pro-sports-313944020/4789503989001-social-media-troll-accuses-sophie-cunningham-of-gender-affirming-surgery-after-trans-comments-posts-collage-evidence-with-over-4-6-million-views-photos

Cunningham has support from her team saying team members have diverse views. Code meaning most of the team backs her, but are too scared to speak up.

Indiana Fever breaks silence after Sophie Cunningham transgender athlete comments
https://latination.com/indiana-fever-sophie-cunningham-brianna-turner-wnba-statement/

"Sophie Cunningham is no newbie" - Martina Navratilova reacts after Fever star faces criticism on transgender athletes stance
https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-sophie-cunningham-newbie-martina-navratilova-reacts-fever-star-faces-criticism-transgender-athletes-stance

Oh dear, sad times.

Have any politicians commented?

Are Democrates demonstrating an awareness that this issue has been toxic for them?

I only recently became aware of her due to the pointing video, which I found hilarious and badass. No surprise to find out she’s not afraid to stand up to bullies.

The Whitehouse backed Cunningham.

https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/white-house-defends-wnba-star-sophie-cunningham-speaks-support-protecting-womens-sports

I have not seen mention of any Democrats getting involved. I think they are scared.

Megan Rapinoe famous former women football player and ardent TA has criticised Cunningham she is the biggest name so far. However much of the criticism is just coming from media people.

As the Newsweek article earlier in this thread argued this could be a key moment in the US.

There’s something about her confidence- she isn’t trying to persuade anyone, appease anyone, explain anything. She’s simply describing the world as she sees it and what other people think about that is neither here nor there.
Very admirable. There’s a lot to be said for being uninterested in what other people think or how they take your words.

Other than the male DSD athletes in female events, was Laurel Hubbard the first prominent TIM to garner significant media attention, the weightlifting in the 2020 Olympics?
I remember at the time thinking, surely the media will call him out, crowds will boo or not attend, that this will be the first and last time such a travesty occurs.
How wrong I was.
Lia Thomas, surely the furore here has to signify the end? No.
Imane Khelif caused a firestorm, but even a male punching females to Gold just didn't break the iron grip of this movement.
I think if Sophie Cunningham is to be the breaking the dam moment, then it's incumbent on male athletes to also speak up clearly.
It's a source of eternal shame that men in sport, especially at the top level, have said fuck all to support their female compatriots.
Just exceptions like the wonderful Daley Thompson.