Women's Sports

WNBA player Sophie Cunningham grabbed a lot of headlines this week after saying she believes “truth” requires protecting women from biological men invading their sports.

The basketball star told ESPN on Tuesday, “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.”

One user slammed her position on X, “Sophie Cunningham is unafraid. Unafraid to be blatantly transphobic.”

Another account posted, “Sophie Cunningham has to be suspended today. You @WNBA can’’t claim to have ‘No Space for Hate’ and then suspend Sandy Brondelo for her comments but allow Sophie to be wildly transphobic in a ESPN article and skate away without consequences. The punishment must be equal.”

After generating chatter on social media, the 29-year-old guard for the Indiana Fever doubled down on Wednesday when speaking with reporters before her team’s game against the Connecticut Sun. “I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham asserted. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”

Cunningham and Caitlin Clark, another guard for the Indiana Fever, are considered to be the two most popular WNBA stars.

“Sophie has proven she is a defender, she is bold, and she is completely in tune with the spirit of sport. She isn’t letting brand deals or politics control or distract her — she’s simply unafraid to say what everyone is thinking,” Macy Charles, a legislative strategist for Concerned Women of America told The Washington Stand.

Cunningham cited Title IX as a reason for fairness in women’s sports. “That’s why you have some of the greats in women’s sports,” Cunningham said. “If Title IX and women’s sports weren’t protected, then you wouldn’t hear about any type of women in sport. And so, I think in the future, it’s just really important to protect.”

“And, like I said, I’m gonna stand true to that,” she continued. I’ll never falter in my beliefs in that.”

Despite speaking out, Cunningham is tight-lipped about her political beliefs.

Charles pointed out that Cunningham recognizes the commonsense purpose of the WNBA. “She also knows her opportunities were made possible because she wasn’t expected to participate in the NBA — equality and fairness were exactly why the WNBA was created. She is preserving that for those coming after her. Sophie said she spoke ‘in love,’ and that’s important. Scripture tells us that love rejoices in the truth. Speaking truth in love isn’t a contradiction. It’s exactly what we’re called to do.”

Cunningham’s views are also incredibly mainstream, New York Times/Ipsos polling shows. A whopping 80% of Americans believe biological men should not compete in women’s sports — including 67% of Democrats. Among Republicans, support for the star guard’s position is almost unanimous: 94%.

At a press conference at the White House on Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the situation.

“The backlash she [Sophie Cunningham] is receiving from Democrats and left-wing figures across the country is astonishing. They are clearly very out of touch with the American public on this issue, which again, is an 80/20 issue. It’s common sense. It’s rooted in basic biological fact that men should not be competing against women on playing fields across the country,” Leavitt said.

Other politicians outside of the White House rallied behind Cunningham on X, including Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and Rep. Eli Crane (Ariz.). Fellow athletes Riley Gaines and Martina Navratilova also showed support.

Jennifer Sey, the founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, posted on X, “Let this be a lesson to other high level female athletes ... if you are a draw, speak up. They won’t can you.”

Ella Frei, a 17-year-old high school volleyball player from Wisconsin who has said she faced online harassment after criticizing her school’s transgender bathroom policy, also posted, “Thank you @sophaller for being the first female superstar athlete to have my back. It means the world to me.”

Briley Lechner, a high school volleyball player in Michigan who was forced to share a locker room with a biological male identifying as a female from an opposing team, commented that she is inspired by Cunningham as well: “Watching @sophaller say it out loud — that girls shouldn’t have to give up fair competition or our privacy — meant more than she’ll ever know. When a WNBA star says it, maybe people finally listen. I know what it’s like to have your voice on this treated like it’s hateful. It isn’t. Wanting a fair game and a private locker room was never hate. It’s just the truth, and I’m done being afraid to say it. Thank you, Sophie, for going first. You made it easier for the rest of us.”

This article was originally written by Quinn Delamater and published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.

There is something quietly powerful about a person who simply shows up. No speeches. No screaming. Just the steady confidence of standing on principle. On the Daniel Cohen Show for Real Life Network (RLN News), I want to name what so many Americans can feel right now: our culture is loud, confused, and unstable, and the need for biblical truth, moral clarity, and a Christian worldview has never been more urgent.

Hollywood and the legacy media love to lecture the rest of us about morality, but this week exposed the hypocrisy. We watched celebrities elevate a political narrative around Renee Good while ignoring the deeper issues of law, order, and truth. At the same time, actress Sydney Sweeney did something refreshingly human that cut through the noise. She stood for a photo with former Israeli hostages Noah Argomani and Avianatan Orr, survivors of Hamas captivity. In an entertainment industry that punishes anyone who steps out of step with the herd, she did not flinch. Quiet courage still matters, especially when it costs you something.

Protect Women’s Sports and Tell the Truth

We also have a major case at the United States Supreme Court that could decide whether men will continue competing against women in women’s sports. The arguments we are hearing from the left are built on confusion, and sometimes outright denial of reality. The lead attorney could not even define what a woman is. Justice Alito asked a basic question. The answer came back as word salad and evasions.

Title IX was passed to protect women and ensure equal opportunity, privacy, and safety. It was not designed to accommodate an ideology that pretends biology is optional. We have seen female athletes lose scholarships, lose records, and take physical punishment they should never have to endure. This is not compassion. It is exploitation. Riley Gaines nailed it when she said that if leaders cannot state a simple truth about male and female, then they lose credibility on everything else.

And Christians, this is another reminder of why voting matters. Supreme Court seats shape the law for generations. Policy follows downstream from worldview, and worldview follows downstream from truth.

Iran’s Uprising and the Red Green Alliance

While Americans are being distracted and manipulated, Iran is burning, literally and figuratively. The death toll is unclear because the regime has cut the internet and buried the truth along with the bodies. There are reports of mass graves, families not receiving the remains of loved ones, and protesters being executed publicly. We are watching an Islamic dictatorship respond the only way it knows how: with terror.

Here is what I know. It is worse than the world is being told. It is worse than many want to admit. And the people of Iran cannot do this alone.

This also connects to what Charlie Kirk has described as the Red Green Alliance, the coalition between radical leftism and radical Islam. We have seen this pattern before. In Iran in 1979, leftists welcomed Islamists into the revolution, thinking they could build something free together. Then the Islamists took power and crushed everyone who would not submit. That is how it ends every time. Tyranny wins and freedom dies.

If you are wondering why this matters in America, look at what is happening in Minnesota, including Somali fraud scandals, the obstruction of ICE operations, and elected officials calling law enforcement “terror.” Look at the ideological protection being offered to movements that do not share Judeo-Christian values at all. If we lose the ability to name truth, we will lose the ability to defend anything good.

As the noise grows louder and the truth becomes harder to find, believers need a place they can trust. Real Life Network exists to cut through propaganda, speak with biblical clarity, and equip Christians to stand firm in an increasingly hostile culture.

Watch The Daniel Cohen Show and hundreds of other faith grounded programs anytime on Real Life Network. Stream biblical worldview news, bold teaching, and cultural commentary all in one place, free and without compromise.

Download the Real Life Network app or visit RealLifeNetwork.com and make truth part of your daily rhythm.

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