Sophie Cunningham’s outspoken defense of women’s sports has sparked a series of angry protests that show no sign of slowing down.
The Indiana Fever star’s recent comments about ‘protecting young girls’ from transgender athletes in sports has created huge controversy on both sides of the arguments, leading to a series of anti-trans rallies outside WNBA arenas.
The Daily Mail can reveal that two further protests are being planned in the coming days, starting on Friday night outside the Portland Fire’s Moda Center, where the Fever are due to play at 10pm EST.
On Sunday, Indiana travels to Minnesota to face the Lynx, where another demonstration has been slated ahead of the 1pm EST tip-off.
The planned rallies come just days after the issue exploded in Seattle, when a calm protest outside the arena was followed by a courtside meltdown from a Storm co-owner which led to her being suspended for five games by the team.
After two young girls brought in signs pledging their support for Cunningham and the ‘protect women’s sports’ movement, Celeste Keaton allowed her temper to boil over when she confronted them and allegedly told them they were ‘f***ing insane’.
People gathered in support of Sophie Cunningham in Seattle before Tuesday’s WNBA game
Two young women, left, accused Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton of calling them ‘f***ing insane’ and berating them over their support for Cunningham in a courtside meltdown
Cunningham’s trans comments have catapulted the issue back into the national spotlight
The team has since apologized but the protests against that side of the argument are continuing to ramp up and threaten to cause another huge issue for the WNBA.
Fox News reports that Friday night’s Portland rally is being led by Washington-based activist Amy Sousa, who was also involved in the organization of Tuesday’s Seattle protest outside the Climate Pledge Arena.
Sousa told the organization that the group had initially planned not to publicize it, but the events of Tuesday night forced them to change their mind.
‘We were just going to do something quiet with just a couple of us, and seeing what happened to those girls, we just thought, ‘We can’t be quiet”,’ she said.
The rally is scheduled for 5:30pm local time, an hour and a half before Cunningham and her teammates tip off.
Sunday’s protest in Minneapolis, meanwhile, is being led by XX-XY Athletics founder and former Team USA gymnastics champion Jennifer Sey.
Sey, who previously wrote for the Daily Mail to slam the WNBA’s mean girl plot to topple Caitlin Clark, has been a long-time voice in the ‘save women’s sports’ movement.
WNBA star Cunningham took to X to slam Keaton and called her ‘truly embarrassing’
More protests are now planned to take place in Portland and Minneapolis in the coming days
The trans issue was catapulted into the spotlight by Cunningham recently, when she spoke to ESPN, insisting women ‘shouldn’t have to go against biological men.’
The two girls sitting courtside in support of Cunningham on Tuesday wore t-shirts made by XX-XY, and the WNBA star herself took to X to slam the Storm co-owner.
‘I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY,’ she wrote. ‘Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table!
‘You can disagree and still be kind. Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon. Yay for gifts.
‘Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.’
