(LifeSiteNews) — As the saga of “transgender” men and the WNBA unfolds, it has become clear that the 2026 season of the women’s basketball league may be the transgender movement’s Waterloo — at least in the realm of sports. Because as it turns out, not even Democrats are comfortable with their agenda.
WNBA games have turned into a three-ring circus culture war, with former NBA players Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom showing up (White in a wig, Kanter in a shirt reading “woman”) and protesters supporting Sophie Cunningham, who ignited everything when she told ESPN she supports all-female sports teams. Kanter was kicked out of a game for his shirt with the definition of “woman” and is threatening legal action.
A poll released by Pew Research on August 11 highlights why the WNBA is so desperate to avoid the debate following them from game to game. As it turns out, opposition to trans-identifying players in women’s sports is a super-majority: 73 percent of Americans oppose it, and 66 percent of adults support a law stipulating that players compete on teams “that match their sex at birth.” Unsurprisingly, 91 percent of Republicans hold this position.
A majority of Democrats are not comfortable with transgender athletes competing on sports teams that don’t match their sex at birth, per Pew Research. Only 45 percent of LGBTQ people are extremely/very comfortable with it. Bluesky is appalled by this. pic.twitter.com/pUn3Hgzg8E
— Benjamin Ryan (@benryanwriter) August 30, 2026
Even a majority of Democrats oppose trans-identifying players on female teams, with 55 percent saying that they “would be not too or not at all comfortable” with it and only 23 percent saying they would be “very comfortable” with it. And it gets worse for trans activists: Only 45 percent of people who identify as LGBT describe themselves as “very comfortable” with trans-identifying players on female teams.
If trans activists do not even have a solid majority of their own movement onside, it is game over.
The refusal of many Democrats to pivot on this issue highlights just how captured the party is by the LGBT movement. Any sane politician looking at those numbers would conclude that it is time to pivot. A super-majority of the country and a slim majority of Democrats oppose trans-identifying players in female sports. Even Americans who identify as LGBT are divided on the issue. This policy isn’t just lose-lose for female players; it is obviously lose-lose for the Democrats.
But in November 2025, 130 congressional Democrats – nine senators and 121 House members – filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to side with trans-identifying athletes challenging popular bans in Idaho and West Virginia, claiming that these bans damage “equal access” and “community inclusion.” Prominent signatories included House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Ilhan Omar, Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, and Adam Schiff. They signed this brief knowing that a super-majority of Americans oppose their position.
Nearly all of them have doubled down since then.
The antics of Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom are obviously ludicrous, and they are intended to be. Movements with ridiculous premises are uniquely susceptible to ridicule because ridicule exposes their agenda to the public in a way that serious arguments do not. This is precisely why the LGBT movement has attacked comedians who mock them (Ricky Gervais, Dave Chappelle, Bill Maher) with such viciousness. To be debated is to be taken seriously; to be mocked is to be exposed.
The WNBA is hoping that if it ignores the culture war, it will pass them by. I don’t think that’s going to happen this time around. The culture war is playing out on the courts, and they’re going to have to pick a side.
