Indiana Fever reserve guard Sophie Cunningham’s stance on transgender athletes participating in sports continues to be ever-prevalent.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham said after being asked about her “MAGA Barbie” nickname. “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.”
Since then, intense debate has been had over whether ot not transgender girls should be permitted to compete with and against other girls. However, Cunningham’s teammate on the Fever, superstar Caitlin Clark, declined to address the topic with media members on Sunday.
Saying instead, “I think it’s for leagues and the governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions, but our focus is on basketball,” of how the Fever handle the topic internally.
While many were upset that Clark didn’t take a side in the debate, journalist Jemele Hill recently appeared on CNN to discuss why Clark’s response was reasonable.
“Yeah, it was reasonable because if she does not want to be involved and she just wants to focus on basketball, it’s her right to do that,” Hill said. “I understand that she’s the most popular player in the league and that people are looking for somebody who is 23 or 24 years old to be a spokesperson on everything.
“But I actually have a sincere appreciation for athletes who understand when they’re out of their depth, and there’s things that they don’t want to speak about. She’s not required to do that. And the reality to me is it exposes, uh, the people, um, exposes the hypocrisy of the people who are calling her a coward. It’s funny they’re putting this pressure on her to say something because wasn’t this the same crowd, you know, correct me if I’m wrong, who also stood firmly behind ‘shut up and dribble?’”
Hill asked what it would take for others to let the transgender community live in peace.
“Trans girls and women are no longer allowed to participate in the, uh, in, in sports in the NCAA. They can’t compete at the Olympic level. What will it take them to leave this community alone? That’s what I want to know.
“What, what will satisfy you from continuing to demonize and dehumanize a population that is roughly 1%? What’s it going to take for you to get off the back of a community where, by last count, according to the NCAA president, there are 10 trans athletes who were in college out of 500,000 athletes? What will it take for you to shut up and leave this community alone?”
Hill then turned her attention directly to Cunningham.
“My issue with Sophie Cunningham is that she has recently become one of the most popular athletes in the WNBA. She’s got a huge platform, she’s got a podcast, She is suddenly now the darling of the right-wing community. She uses that platform to punch down on a group of people who are just struggling to exist, and I find that to be despicable.”
She added, “Her language is very telling and it’s very obvious she wanted to make sure that she left you with the most stark and demeaning, uh, demonizing image possible. Young defenseless girls, big hulking men in the locker rooms taking advantage of women in sports.”
Hill finds it “shameful” the way Cunningham has decided to use her platform.
“She’s been able to gain this popularity and this platform To me, it’s just really shameful that she hasn’t used it more responsibly.”
