(LifeSiteNews) — On September 17, five GOP members of Congress sent WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert a letter urging her to define what a “woman” is in the Women’s National Basketball Association’s eligibility standards and calling on the league to deal with trans activist outbursts at games.
Representatives Martin Stutzman and Erin Houchin of Indiana, Sheri Biggs of South Carolina, John Rose of Tennessee, and Zach Nunn of Iowa signed the letter, citing incidents of verbal abuse against supporters of Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham. Cunningham triggered the months-long controversy when she told ESPN that she opposes trans-identifying males in female sports leagues and private spaces.
The controversy went national overnight, with the White House expressing support for Cunningham’s position and rallies both for and against “transgender” players in women’s sports erupting outside WNBA games. At a Toronto game against Indiana Fever in August, Toronto Tempo unveiled a “non-binary turtle” mascot to taunt Cunningham.
In response to the backlash against Cunningham, former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White declared that they would identify as women for the purposes of applying for the WNBA draft unless the league clarified how they defined women. The letter stated:
On top of the already concerning lack of will to enforce basic player and fan protections, we are also concerned by the WNBA’s lack of eligibility standards, which are at the heart of these verbal confrontations. Article XIII, Section 1(a) of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states: “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” However, the agreement does not define “women.” Individuals including Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced their intent to join the 2027 WNBA draft by identifying as “women,” yet have been deemed ineligible by the WNBA. This action indicates the League certainly understands the biological difference between men and women, and has even gone so far as to enforce that distinction when deciding eligibility.
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“As a women’s sports league, the WNBA must ensure the League remains exclusively for biological women,” the GOP representatives stated.
“As Sophie Cunningham has commented, women should not have to face biological men playing in the WNBA. Opening eligibility to biological men would not only create an unfair advantage but would also risk player safety for the women playing in the WNBA. Taken together with our previous concerns regarding the treatment of Clark, these issues raise questions about whether the WNBA is consistently enforcing its rules and standards that adequately protect its female players and its fans.”
The WNBA’s task force of general managers and team presidents met in August to discuss the issue, but announced on August 12 that: “There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.” The league’s leadership hopes that the culture war will end with the season and that they can simply avoid the problem. They have clearly decided that affirming that “woman” refers to biological sex will trigger a costly attack by LGBT groups.
The GOP, however, will be hammering the issue of trans-identifying males in sports as they head into tight midterm races. Recent polls show that even a majority of Democrats oppose men on women’s sports teams, with only 23 percent of Dems and a minority of LGBT-identifying people (45%) feeling “very comfortable” with it. Ninety-one percent of Republicans oppose the practice. The GOP has found a culture war with a super-majority on their side, and they will be working to keep the issue front and center, right through November.
The representatives are asking for an answer to their letter by October 16.
