Sophie Cunningham, the Indiana Fever guard you last saw pointing her way to viral fame, is now grabbing attention again for her stance on transgender athletes in women’s sports.
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“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham told ESPN in a feature story earlier this week, before doubling down Wednesday. “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.”
Cunningham says her political views are “very much in the middle,” but her views on trans athletes and perceived conservatism have made her a popular figure on the right. That makes her an outlier in the WNBA, a majority-Black league known for progressive advocacy. The WNBA has no ban on transgender women, and the WNBPA, the league’s players union, has historically supported LGBTQ+ rights and issued a statement in support of trans youth in 2022.
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Together with the fact that she plays alongside Caitlin Clark, Cunningham’s willingness to speak her mind guarantees her a place in feeds for the rest of this season — and probably a lot longer.
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