Sophie Cunningham’s vocal opposition to transgender athletes in women’s sports ignores some complicated truths about the debate, according to former ESPN personality Katie Nolan.
Speaking this week on her SiriusXM podcast, Casuals, Nolan said the Indiana Fever forward either lacks ‘critical-thinking skills’ or simply isn’t ‘interested in employing them.’
‘Nobody is saying we should get rid of, for example, the WNBA and the NBA, and everybody should just compete together,’ Nolan said. ‘Nobody’s saying that. And so, the people that are packaging it as that are doing so on purpose. And when you are consuming it and going, “How could anyone disagree with this statement?” You never consider that it’s because the statement itself does not reflect the actual issue that we’re discussing.’
And according to Nolan, a 2016 Sports Emmy Award winner, the real issue has become political rather than a simple matter of fairness.
‘You’re taking the message that’s being given to you by people who are highly invested in this dividing stuff, and you’re helping them sell it by not questioning it at all,’ Nolan said. ‘Which is extra crazy given the fact that you’re surrounded by people you could talk to about this issue to better understand it.’
Cunningham has become a culture-war figure since telling ESPN she opposes the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports – an opinion she believes is unattached to any political philosophy.
Cunningham became a culture-war figure since opposing the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports – an opinion she believes is unattached to any greater political philosophy
Cunningham’s vocal opposition to transgender athletes in women’s sports ignores some complicated truths about the debate, according to former ESPN personality Katie Nolan
‘I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans,’ she told ESPN. ‘And I’m like, “I never once said that.”
‘I think that I am here to extend love,’ she continued. ‘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.’
Nolan didn’t buy that logic.
Citing Cunningham’s recent cameo as UFC ring girl at Conor McGregor’s doomed comeback fight, Nolan accused the WNBA star of hypocrisy. After all, McGregor was found civilly liable for sexual assault in his native Ireland, while UFC president Dana White was caught on camera slapping his wife.
White has publicly apologized for the incident, while McGregor denied the sexual assault claim to a Dublin court.
‘You couldn’t catch me dead at that fight,’ said Nolan, who is a long-time fan of the UFC. ‘F*** Conor McGregor, respectfully.
Sophie Cunningham works as a ring girl during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
After working as a ring girl, Cunningham returned to T-Mobile to play the WNBA’s Aces
Supporters rally behind Cunningham after her comments on transgender athletes
‘And you [follow up] by saying that it’s really important for you to protect little girls from some theoretical transgender person who might take advantage of [them],’ Nolan continued. ‘F*** so many things would have to happen for the harm you’re claiming to be worried about to actually be carried out.
‘Meanwhile men come into women’s sports in various positions of authority … and they take advantage of women all the time. And where were you, Sophie, on any of that?’
Cunningham has been quiet on many other political issues, telling ESPN she is ‘very much in the middle’ on many issues.
‘I agree with things on both sides, disagree with things on both sides,’ she told ESPN. ‘And that’s all I’ve ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume.’
While she has resisted embracing any one side politically, conservative activists have issued their support by demonstrating in a number of WNBA cities along the Fever’s recent road trip.
Meanwhile, Cunningham’s other critics have also been vocal. On Friday in Portland, for instance, Cunningham was booed throughout the Fever’s win over the Fire.
But she also gave as good as she got.
After draining a 3-pointer, she appeared to make an ‘L’ with her fingers in a gesture to the crowd, as if to call her critics ‘losers.’ She later denied that characterization online, while admitting she did ‘talk s***’ with the crowd.
In a follow-up post, she then appeared to further stoke the flames with a video of herself with a finger to her lips, as if trying to quiet those booing her.
Cunningham has been at the center of a war of words after her comments on trans athletes
Sophie Cunningham stoked the flames some more by appearing to shush the Portland fans
Cunningham greets Caitlin Clark as she returns to the bench on Friday night in Portland
Prior to tip-off on Friday night, Cunningham addressed the controversy by insisting that she has not been a distraction for the Fever.
‘I think at the end of the day, I come in and I do my job,’ Cunningham said. ‘I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I’m full of love. I’m bubbly. I love the people around me. I love basketball.
‘I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn’t even cross my mind. Doesn’t cross my teammates’ minds.
‘And again, I’m here to play basketball, but I’m also here to be me, and I’m not gonna like shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don’t agree with that.’
Fever coach Stephanie White was also asked for her opinion on the debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports and responded by pushing for inclusion.
‘I wouldn’t say I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint, but I don’t ever believe that exclusion is an answer,’ White told reporters prior to tip-off. ‘I just don’t.
‘I do think, when we think about various levels of sport, various governing bodies of sport and things that go into that, as I said, I’m not educated enough at the different levels. I know growing up that I played with the boys all the time. There weren’t girls sports back then.’
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
While White answered questions on the subject inside Moda Center, Cunningham loyalists were outside the arena demonstrating in support of the woman at the center of the WNBA’s latest controversy.
Judging by videos posted on a ‘Women Are Real’ X page, Friday’s protest did not appear to draw a large crowd outside Moda Center. Several individuals held signs thanking Cunningham for voicing her opposition to transgender athletes in women’s sports. Meanwhile, one man was seen making an ‘X’ with his arms.
Cunningham does not have any ties to the group, as she explained to reporters during a pre-game press conference. She does, however, support their message.
‘I have honestly had nothing to do with them,’ Cunningham said. ‘I think it’s people just practicing their rights of freedom of speech and doing what other fans have been doing since the WNBA has started. And so props to them, props to everyone who is able to be competent and be bold and courageous enough to speak their truths.’
Just days earlier, the same organizers made national news in Seattle when the owner of the WNBA’s Storm told two young Cunningham supporters they were ‘f***ing insane’ for demonstrating courtside. As a result, Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton has been banned from her team’s next five home games by the WNBA.
