Sophie Cunningham doubles down on defense of girls’ sports
WNBA player Sophie Cunningham stirs debate by doubling down on her defense of women’s sports, emphasizing the foundational role of Title IX. XX-XY Athletics founder and CEO Jennifer Sey champions Cunningham’s stance, noting its alignment with widespread beliefs and legal precedents despite media backlash.
WNBA star Sophie Cunningham ruffled plenty of feathers with her recent comments regarding protecting women’s sports.
Several media personalities and even some fellow WNBA colleagues were quick to bristle at her statement about keeping biological men out of girls’ sports, but the Indiana Fever guard has not backed down.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham plays in the second half against the Los Angeles Sparks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on June 27, 2026. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)
The latest person to take umbrage with Cunningham’s comments is a familiar and unlikely one, though, as childhood friend and podcast co-host, West Wilson, took to X to voice his displeasure with “right wingers” turning the trans in women’s sports debate into a mountain of an issue.
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“Transgender athletes in American sports is such a borderline nonexistent issue that right-wingers have convinced a massive portion of people in our country that these people are a threat to sports in America when mathematically, that’s not the case at all,” Wilson said.
He continued by claiming that by platforming the issue, politicians in particular are sowing divisiveness and “isolating” trans people.
“There is, like, 10 transgender athletes in all of the NCAA,” Wilson said. “I think there are unique questions that can be handled on individual bases, but to allow this to take our attention from housing, healthcare, wars, all the other actual harmful s–t in our country is dumb.”
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University of Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas swims in a preliminary heat for the 500 meter freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
There are plenty of things wrong with what Wilson said, namely that transgender athletes in female sports is solely a “right wing” issue.
Plenty of sane people on both sides of the aisle have voiced their displeasure with biological men invading female spaces, so to paint this as a fringe right crusade is disingenuous.
It’s also worth noting that he goes out of his way to mention NCAA athletes but nothing about youth or high school sports.
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FILE – In this Feb. 7, 2019, file photo, Bloomfield High School transgender athlete Terry Miller, second from left, wins the final of the 55-meter dash over transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood, far left, and other runners in the Connecticut girls Class S indoor track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn. Miller and Yearwood are among Connecticut transgender athletes who would be blocked from participating in girls sports under a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, by the families of three athletes. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb, File) (AP/GETTY)
While the issue of transgender athletes in college sports is still an issue worth fighting, many people are far more concerned with this happening at the youth and high school level, something that OutKick has covered extensively in the past.
Finally, it seems we’ve gone from “this isn’t happening” to “it’s only happening a little,” representing a classic slide down the proverbial slippery slope.
What’s perhaps even more interesting in all of this is how Cunningham and Wilson will work around this difference of opinion.
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Cunningham has made her stance pretty clear and even doubled down on it, while Wilson appears to be completely on the other side.
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Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham reacts after scoring during the second half of a WNBA game against the Seattle Storm on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
While some political differences like tax rates can be amicably disagreed on, the transgender issue continues to be a hot-button one.
It remains to be seen how the two will handle their differences, but suffice to say it doesn’t sound like either will be budging anytime soon.
