Topic of the Week: The Battle Over Transgender People in Sports Comes to the WNBA

Last month, Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham said she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” Cunningham’s comments have sparked small rallies and protests about transgender athletes, and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has sent a memo to WNBA teams regarding the issue. Our analysts rated media coverage in our Topic of the Week.

ABC News reported on this story in an article posted on its website. The article gives background about Cunningham’s comments and quotes Engelbert’s memo, which says a task force of team presidents and general managers will meet to discuss the participation of transgender athletes in the WNBA. Analysts noted that the article ends with a quote in support of transgender athletes and includes no quotes from those in opposition. The article was rated as “simple fact reporting” with a “middle” bias.

An article from Forbes takes a narrower look at the issue, focusing on two former NBA players who are taking a “mocking stance” by saying they will declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft. Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom say they’re eligible under the league’s current “inclusionary” policy. Both say they’re trying to challenge the WNBA to “refine its guidelines around who could play in the league.” The article explains the league’s current rules and its response to the controversy. Analysts found the article to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle” bias.

An opinion article on the Fox News website looks at the issue from the viewpoint of a former female athlete and lawyer. Author Kristen Waggoner describes her own love of volleyball and how she uses the “grit that women’s athletics” gave her in the courtroom. Waggoner has fought to “protect women’s sports” by leading cases to ban transgender athletes through the Alliance Defending Freedom organization. “We need more Sophie Cunninghams,” the article’s headline reads, with Waggoner writing, “Her bold stand has sparked an important nationwide conversation.” “Our daughters deserve better than lawyers who can’t define what a woman is,” Waggoner says. Analysts said the article favors a right political perspective, rating it as “opinion” with a “strong right” bias.

A video from the Jemele Hill YouTube channel is a clip of Hill being interviewed by CNN’s Laura Coates. Hill defends Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark, Cunningham’s teammate, who has chosen not to weigh in on the debate. Hill says she supports Cunningham’s right to speak her mind but finds it “despicable” that she is using her platform as “the darling of the right-wing community” to “punch down on a group of people who are just struggling to exist.” Hill says that those opposing transgender athletes have “won,” with 29 states having banned transgender girls in K-12 sports, and trans women no longer allowed to compete in the NCAA or participate at an Olympic level. “What will it take for you to shut up and leave this community alone?” Hill asks. “What will satisfy you from continuing to demonize and dehumanize a population that is roughly one percent?” Analysts found that Hill mischaracterizes Cunningham’s statements, giving the video a reliability rating of “unfair persuasion.” Because both Hill and Coates express left-lean political positions, it received a bias rating of “strong left.”

From the other side of the political spectrum, sports analyst Stephen A. Smith takes issue with Cheryl Reeve, coach of the Minnesota Lynx, wearing a shirt that said, “Trans Kids Belong.” In a video on his YouTube channel, Smith calls Reeve “irresponsible” because she knew the shirt would draw attention, and she showed no regard for the WNBA. “It’s the selfishness. It’s putting yourself before the betterment of the whole.” Smith says he supports the rights of transgender people except in two cases: biological men should not be allowed to use the girls bathroom, and those born male should not be allowed to compete against women in sports. He tells transgender people that “a lot of people… wish you no harm and want you to live your best life and want you to do whatever you feel is right for you… But you don’t have the right to impede upon women’s sports.” Analysts said that Smith’s comments reflect a right-leaning political position, and his comments that speculate on Coach Reeve’s motivations are unfair. The video was rated as “unfair persuasion” with a “hyper-partisan right” bias.

An article from Salon received a reliability rating of “unfair persuasion” but a converse bias score. It focuses on Sophie Cunningham, stating in the subhead: “The anti-trans movement in sports needed a face. It found one in the WNBA player.” Writer Alex Galbraith says that the “right-wing grievance machine” unsuccessfully tried to make Caitlin Clark their “Great White Hope.” But then they found Cunningham: “Republicans have spent years building a trans panic in the United States. When they heard their own talking points out of the mouth of a popular professional athlete, they pounced.” The article says conservatives have “raised their banners for Cunningham,” a “tall, slight and blonde athlete” who could “easily slot into Fox News’ afternoon lineup.” Galbraith supposes that Cunningham is following other former athletes who chose to “get onboard the right-wing gravy train before they aged out of the league.” The article stresses that few transgender athletes are competing in the “top tier” of U.S. professional sports. “Cunningham’s fears are of her own making… Cunningham proclaims herself as a warrior for ‘common sense’ by fighting off a scourge that no one can see.” Due to the language used and the article’s support of a left-leaning political position, it received a bias rating of “hyper-partisan left.”

Follow along with our weekly Topic of the Week exercise by visiting our website. New Topics of the Week are posted each Monday. Read the articles and watch the videos yourself, then come back on Wednesday to compare your scores with our analysts. Learn more here.

Beth Heldebrandt is Director of Communications at Ad Fontes Media. She has more than 35 years of experience in the fields of journalism and public relations, and was an adjunct instructor of journalism for 17 years at Eastern Illinois University. Beth has a B.A. in journalism from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and an M.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University. She’s a mom and grandma, and enjoys traveling, puzzles and reading.