Megan Rapinoe is back, taking shots at women’s sports advocates and once again insisting the differences between male and female athletes shouldn’t matter in women’s sports.
Speaking on her “Why Are You Like This?” podcast — a question sports fans have been asking about her for years — the former USWNT star went after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and OutKick’s own Riley Gaines after the two posed for a photo following the Fever’s game against the Minnesota Lynx.
Rapinoe supports allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports, yet frames women who object, and even athletes who simply stand beside them, as the villains.
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“I want to address the controversy that is happening right now around trans women in sports,” Rapinoe opened.
“As you know, I’ve talked about this a lot and will continue to keep talking about this.”
Riley Gaines and Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham pose for a photo following Sunday’s game at Target Center against the Minnesota Lynx. (Riley Gaines/XX-XY Athletics)
Riley Gaines holds a sign thanking Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham for speaking out to protect women’s sports. (Riley Gaines/XX-XY Athletics)
She went straight after Cunningham, a fan-favorite WNBA guard now popular with young girls across the country.
Cunningham’s big offense? Posing for a picture with Gaines, an athlete who watched female swimmers get robbed of trophies by a biological male and pledged to stop it from happening to anyone else.
In fact, when Gaines attended that game, arena security singled her out as the only person in the building forced to put down a simple sign supporting Cunningham (“Sophie thank you – a Girl Mom”).
That selective censorship shows just how directly Gaines and Cunningham are running counter to the WNBA’s enforced agenda.
“I don’t know Sophie, so I can only project what I see about her beliefs based on her actions, and seeing a picture of her with Riley Gaines after the game told me everything I need to know about what’s happening,” Rapinoe scoffed.
Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird pose for a photo during the 2025 WNBA All Star Skills Challenge at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on July 18, 2025. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)
Rapinoe then demanded ideological conformity from the WNBA star, treating a single post-game photo with Gaines as proof of Cunningham’s beliefs rather than addressing anything Cunningham herself had said.
Zero facts, zero conversation. Just pure guilt by association, which is a classic Rapinoe move.
“Sophie has claimed both to love trans people and support Title IX. And this is where I think the accountability with having a major platform is extremely important.”
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Rapinoe then turned her attention to Gaines.
“Riley Gaines has made it her life’s mission to exclude trans people from public life,” Rapinoe claimed.
“She’s directly tied to the Heritage Foundation, the authors of Project 2025 and now 2026, who have now published a report that suggests that they want to repeal Title IX, the very piece of legislation that allowed athletes like Sophie and myself to compete in sports.”
Sophie Cunningham #8 of the Indiana Fever looks on against the Minnesota Lynx in the fourth quarter at Target Center on August 02, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Lynx defeated the Fever 108-100. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) (David Berding/Getty Images)
What Rapinoe conveniently forgets, or deliberately omits, is that Gaines was in the water, competing head-to-head against a MAN (Will “Lia” Thomas) at the 2022 NCAA Championships.
Activists like Rapinoe cheered for Will Thomas’ inclusion in the pool and the women’s locker room.
It’s classic Rapinoe spin. Wipe away Gaines’ actual experience in the pool, frame her as a political operative, and ignore the real damage inflicted on female sports. Rapinoe wants fans to pretend Gaines’s actual experience doesn’t exist while dragging Cunningham through the mud over a simple picture. Facts take a backseat in Rapinoe’s world. It’s not about what happened in the pool or with other female athletes who’ve competed against men and echoed Gaines’ sentiments.
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“You can hear it even in the language being used that the root of trans exclusion is to protect young girls from men,” Rapinoe said. “To be clear, I would love to have that conversation and it’s much needed in this country. But it frames the conversation as if we’re protecting young girls from men being in WNBA locker rooms, not happening. It villainizes trans girls as if they’re somehow magically older than their peers. Or are men, when in reality, they are also young girls. These laws are excluding kids. Kids from playing youth sports.”
Megan Rapinoe knows a thing or two about being an off-field distraction. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vox Media))
She dismissed concerns at elite levels, claiming, “If we want to have a conversation around elite sports, there are effective policies that have been in place for many years that no one noticed because they worked.”
She finished her rant by scoffing at anyone who dares disagree. “So, if anybody is taking these talking points as legit or believing they’re protecting young girls in sports? I just have to ask, are you serious?”
Yes, people are serious.
Parents, female athletes and fans are serious about protecting single-sex sports, the very purpose Title IX was created to guarantee.
Megan Rapinoe appears in “More Than A Game” ACLU campaign (ACLU)
Rather than grapple with why Gaines entered this debate or why Cunningham chose to stand beside her, Rapinoe portrays both women as the problem.
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Unhinged Rapinoe can defend her position, but Gaines and Cunningham are standing up for female athletes and the young girls dreaming of a level playing field.
Send us your thoughts: [email protected] / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela
