As of late, the WNBA discourse has been dominated by the controversy surrounding Indiana Fever reserve guard Sophie Cunningham. Last week, ESPN published a profile of Cunningham in which she talked about “protecting women’s sports” by not allowing girls to compete with “biological men.”
The comments became the spark plug for a back-and-forth debate on social media, with many labeling Cunningham as transphobic, while others, such as the White House, said that she was just using “common sense.”On Tuesday, two young fans at a Fever-Seattle Storm game were showing their support for Cunningham when Celeste Keaton, one of the Storm’s minority owners, allegedly verbally berated them and called them “f*cking insane.
The exchange resulted in the Storm organization issuing an apology, and the WNBA suspending Keaton for the next five Storm home games.
Now, children’s author J.K. Rowling posted on X to weigh in on the situation.
“These young women are heroines. They’re peacefully protesting against the grotesque unfairness of men playing in women’s sport. The only people who are ‘f*cking insane’ here are those making a mockery of fair sport for women and trying to bully girls like this into silence.”
Rowling wasn’t the only one to weigh in. Cunningham herself acknowledged what occurred in Seattle on X, and hinted at gifting the young fans involved.
“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. 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.”
With another rally being planned ahead of Indiana’s Friday matchup with the Portland Fire, it’s obvious this is a story that isn’t dying anytime soon.
