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 guessed that the headline was about a previous infamous foul by SC.
But I wouldn't rule out a subtext...

SC was rightly punished for that foul, she was fined, and I don't think she complained about it.

You mean she didn't try to get away with it by claiming the 'white privilege' to do it.

CRT is a lot bigger in the USA than it is here, reparations are the best our race baiters can come with. The USA, sadly has a whole history of discrimination to fuel the race baiters with, what amazes me is the segregation was the product of the Democratic party, the fact that it's now the Republicans that are getting called racists by the Democrats is surly DARVO.

The algorithm on my phone keeps feeding me articles about this now.

Here's a shoddy, biased piece from CNN:

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/07/us/indiana-fever-sophie-cunningham-caitlin-clark-trans-bans-cec

The crux of it seems to be that being opposed to "trans girls" in women's sports is part of a right wing culture war. No attempt to take a look at the science, apart from one cherry picked article that says TW have no advantage. Perhaps the author could have looked at the research that underpinned the IOC's recent decision to protect the female category?

It is depressing to see how this is perceived as purely a right v left issue in the US by much of the media, despite the fact that support for protecting the female category is bi-partisan.

Maybe Cunningham spoke out/up, because she saw the immolating toxic effects of trans athletes in other women's sport, especially college volleyball.
It took one or two males in that sport to literally implode it. Females weren't allowed to criticise TIMs on the opposing team, teammates of the TIMs weren't allowed to not support their "brave" teammates.
The result was the sport was corrupted.
Quillette.com documented the whole thing.
For the sake of one or two male egos, females had their sport ruined.
Few spoke up in female volleyball, and they weren't heard/we're silenced (too little money and exposure in female college sports).
Cunningham is not doing the same in women's basketball.
Toilets/changing rooms and sport are the rubicons that need to be crossed for TRA to co-opt civic society.
Once men are "allowed" to use women's toilets as a matter of course, and men regularly "compete" in women's sport, there's no going back, prisons, refuges, the very definitions of sex-specific activities and spaces, the very essence of heterosexual and homosexual differences, are corrupted. Self ID inevitable.
Not sure if we're still at the thin end, but the thick end of this wedge is at stake.

Chicago's DiJonai Carrington ejected for hard foul on Sophie Cunningham - BBC Sport

A balanced article from the BBC website.
SC's comments are the opposite of inflammatory, aren't they?
And she makes the point that when she committed a similar foul, and was punished:
Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out, and I deserved to be kicked out.

Looking forward [not!] to seeing how that is spun as transphobia crossed with MAGA crossed with white supremacy🙄

That's how this (un)civil war is to be fought.
The likes of Sophie now, Riley before her, JKR, Navratilova etc on the long march, building on those who've been at it from the start (Bindel, Greer etc).
Once sport is free of this risk, it'll be the women that Sophie gave permission to speak out, that will have been integral. Sophie is the bridge to them.
It's about to get very hot indeed.
You can't go from forces pushing to normalize men in women's sport to the cold air of physical reality and truth, without extreme pushback and character assassination.
Remember, the establishment were ok with women losing out to a male swimmer & get punched by a male boxer, content to let US women's college volleyball burn, and now try and shut up any woman, especially a prominent one like Sophie, from highlighting the risk.

Erm. You are starting to revert to the sort of posts that made one, none or some of us feel a little uncomfortable.

Looking forward [not!] to seeing how that is spun as transphobia crossed with MAGA crossed with white supremacy

I dare say there's something about colonialism in there, too

Ah, ok.

Apparently some fouls are trans now. New bit of gender stuff to think about. None of the people involved are gender questioning. Is that because the foul was violent?

“Love A Trans Foul”: Sydney Colson Shares Cryptic Message After DiJonai Carrington’s Flagrant 2 against Sophie Cunningham
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/love-trans-foul-sydney-colson-063449503.html

More stories about the woman who fouled Sophie being racist:

Footage of DiJonai Carrington mocking Arabic taxi driver resurfaces after she sparked new WNBA race storm with brutal foul on Sophie Cunningham
https://www.dailymail.com/sport/wnba/article-16039711/dijonai-carrington-mocks-taxi-driver-footage.html

I like the simplicity and directness of SC's comments and statements -
I did the foul, I took the punishment;
I have no problem with Carrington.
I said what I said.
I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans, I have never once stated that I hated the trans community
I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men.
Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind.
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.

Compare and contrast with the pages and pages of unfair exaggeration, innuendo, smears, and groundless speculation from her critics.

As I said before, SC may veer towards MAGA Trumpism in the future, I'm sure they'd love to have her - it's not impossible. But then again she might not.
That's not the point, The point is that she is being unfairly attacked as if she already has.

That's what is so outrageous about the storm of unfounded abuse she's receiving - she's being attacked for something that only exists in the minds of her attackers.

I agree, it's the manufactured outrage of the self-righteous zealot that will be the undoing of this stupid ideology, ordinary people can only take so much frothing at the mouth.

This is huge.

The Cunningham Effect: How controversial viral WNBA moments are becoming an unprecedented commercial success

XX-XY Athletics, an apparel company that has become closely associated with supporters of the Indiana Fever guard’s stance on transgender participation in women’s sports, says its business has increased sixfold over the past two weeks.
That equates to roughly 500% growth compared with its previous sales level, according to figures the company provided to Front Office Sports. August is also on pace to become the strongest month in the brand’s history.

The most striking number may be where those purchases are coming from.

Approximately 85% of orders during the surge have been placed by first-time customers, according to XX-XY, suggesting that the company is not simply seeing existing supporters spend more. It is attracting an entirely new audience.
https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/wnba/2026/08/11/the-cunningham-effect-how-controversial-viral-wnba-moments-are-becoming-an-unprecedented-commercial-success.html

They are trying to sign SC up to a sponsor contract or some such so I'm inclined to view their PR with caution.
It doesn't seem like The Cunningham Effect is going to be dying down anytime soon, which is encouraging.

New international basketball league believes women are real.

Amid WNBA Saga, Project B Will Follow Olympic Gender Policy
https://frontofficesports.com/wnba-gender-controversy-project-b-launch-with-olympic-ioc-fiba-policy/

Woke mob descends on House star Hugh Laurie after he said Sophie Cunningham was right that trans women should be banned from female sports
https://www.dailymail.com/media/article-16047971/hugh-laurie-sophie-cunningham-trans-women-sports.html

Sophie Cunningham vs. DiJonai Carrington: It's revealed which of the two enjoyed more privileges during childhood

https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/wnba/indiana-fever/2026/08/12/sophie-cunningham-vs-dijonai-carrington-it-s-revealed-which-of-the-two-enjoyed-more-privileges-during-childhood.html

WNBA star Sophie Cunningham shopping tell-all book as she faces woke backlash over trans athlete comments

https://pagesix.com/2026/08/10/hollywood/wnba-star-sophie-cunningham-shopping-tell-all-book-as-she-faces-woke-backlash-over-trans-athlete-comments/

League taskforce still baffled about what is a woman question:

A WNBA task force of team presidents and general managers met Wednesday and discussed transgender athletes but did not arrive at any eligibility rules, according to a statement sent to ESPN by a league spokesperson.

In recent weeks, demonstrators have staged rallies for and against transgender inclusion at Indiana Fever games, after Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN article that she supports barring transgender girls and women from girls' and women's sports.

The league's statement Wednesday, in full, reads:
"Today's meeting covered a wide range of topics, including ongoing discussions on transgender athletes and the continued hate and vitriol directed at players online. We will continue to engage all league stakeholders in the coming weeks and months. We will approach these important conversations thoughtfully and in alignment with the values of our league. 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."
https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/49594734/wnba-task-force-discusses-transgender-athletes-amid-furor

Oh thank God. I'd have been gutted if Hugh Laurie had been a gender woo acolyte

"...alignment with the values of our league."

Which shows what position they're starting from, that Woman in the WNBA are a secondary consideration. 😤

SC is almost becoming a sports version of JKR: if anyone says anything in support of her it's "burn the witch" territory.

Lots of media stuff on Hugh Laurie knowing basic biology this drama shows no sign of dying down.

The Women's National Basketball Association can't define a 'woman,' and it's beyond shameful
https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/womens-national-basketball-association-cant-define-woman-beyond-shameful

Could a transgender woman play in the WNBA? The Supreme Court may have changed the debate

https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/wnba/2026/08/13/could-transgender-woman-play-in-the-wnba-the-supreme-court-may-have-changed-the-debate.html

‘Traitors to Women’ — WNBA’s Resurfaced Tribute to Trans Athletes Sparks Major Outrage Amid Sophie Cunningham Drama
https://www.newsbreak.com/pro-football-sports-network-299253692/4828064721456-traitors-to-women-wnba-s-resurfaced-tribute-to-trans-athletes-sparks-major-outrage-amid-sophie-cunningham-drama

Interesting article suggesting Sophie is motivated by Christianity.

Crossroads Podcast: The Missing Faith Angle In The WNBA’s Culture War Controversy

https://religionunplugged.com/news/2026/8/14/crossroads-podcast-the-missing-faith-angle-in-the-wnbas-culture-war-controversy

This satire just keeps on writing itself.
A group that met to hammer out what a woman is, decided that a woman is....something that will be decided by a lot of other meetings. Lol.

She’s great. I first saw the pointing clip on IG then got fed more WNBA clips. It looks so vicious and prone to pain.

Yes, it’s a fascinating phenomenon.

Fools that come out with that easily debunked stuff are all over Reddit, and the problem is that people countering them are censored unless they’re very very careful indeed, and even where not the halfwit you’re arguing with just keeps repeating the same crap and linking the same shite so people get bored and it’s left to stand. Reddit is fucking awful for that, worse than here, worse than Twitter. Because the difference is selective censorship by the moderators to push an agenda.

That CNN article should reference female college volleyball in the US. Report the chaos wrought by one or two TIMs in that league. Fox in the chicken coop doesn't quite cover it.
Quillette.com has all the receipts.