Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase says sports are about “inclusivity” after being asked about Sophie Cunningham‘s latest remarks about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
Sophie Cunningham, a second-string guard for the Indiana Fever, has made quite the splash over the last few weeks, prompting backlash from fans and triggering support from some others.
There’s been much debate on whether transgender athletes belong in women’s sports, and over the last few weeks, Cunningham has made it clear that she disagrees with that.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham said in a previous interview. “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.”
Nakase was asked about Cunningham’s stance recently, and in her response, she said that sports are about being welcoming to all, not about excluding any one person.
“Sports [are] about inclusivity,” she said. “It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self.”
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Nakase, the inaugural head coach of the Golden State Valkyries and the first Asian American head coach in WNBA history, said that this topic hits especially close to home for her.
“You know, I’m big on that just because I have been criticized for my height, for my ethnicity,” she said. I’ve been in those: ‘You shouldn’t belong here’ conversations many times, and for me, I don’t want that space, especially Golden State, to ever feel like that.”
She added that she’s “all about women [and] little girls” being deserving of playing basketball, and that “includes trans women.”
Nakase isn’t the only WNBA official speaking out against Cunningham’s remarks. On Sunday, August 2, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was spotted on the sideline of her team’s game against the Fever wearing a shirt that read, “Trans Kids Belong.”
A day before that, Reeve spoke with the media about the ongoing conversation surrounding transgender athletes in women’s sports and, like Nakase, said she operates from a “space of inclusion.”
“The narrative that I think is problematic is to suggest that transgender athletes are the biggest problem in women’s sports. This is what’s bothersome. There is a faction of people in our country that are making this a massive issue,” she said.
According to NCAA President Charlie Baker, there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes out of more than 500,000 currently competing in college athletics.
Adding to the list of people who have condemned Cunningham’s stance on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports is her own podcast co-host, West Wilson.
Wilson, who previously appeared on Bravo’s “Summer House,” clapped back at Cunningham in a TikTok video and condemned her for making a big deal out of a “borderline non-existent issue.”
Wilson pointed to the stat above about trans athletes in the NCAA and said that seeking to ban them from participating in sports is only “isolating” members of the queer community further.
Amid the backlash, Cunningham has gotten some support. Right-wing commentator Tomi Lahren criticized Wilson during an episode of “The Big Weekend Show” on Fox and said that his stance was an attack on “the integrity of women’s sports.”
“Listen here, West Wilson, wanting women’s sports and spaces to be for women only is not a right-wing thing. It’s a decent thing to do. You should take some notes from your friend Sophie Cunningham. Also, we still don’t forgive you for ruining one of the greatest shows on Bravo, Summer House,” she said.
Cunningham even doubled down on her take after receiving backlash and said she wouldn’t change her opinion just because it’s unpopular.
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” she said. “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.”
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