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Transgender controversies are roiling the WNBA, and there’s no easy way out

The WNBA refuses to say whether it would allow a 'trans' male dominating women's basketball in France to play in its league. Now two former NBA players are declaring for the WNBA draft.
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Jonathon
Van
Maren
Jonathon Van Maren
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(LifeSiteNews) — As the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) season progresses, the issue of transgenderism is roiling the league even as both players and officials try desperately to avoid weighing in. With two former NBA players announcing that they will be applying to join the WNBA, that strategy is not going to last long. 

Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever triggered the discussion with her declaration that she believes males should be kept out of female spaces; rallies supporting her and counter-protesters denouncing her have been a feature of every game since. Cunningham, characteristically, has refused to back down.

WNBA star and Cunningham teammate Caitlin Clark has faced a barrage of questions about trans-identifying men playing in the league, and has resolutely dodged. On August 2, she responded to questions by stating that the question was for “leagues and governing bodies” to figure out. Four days later, she told reporters that she just wanted to “keep the focus on basketball.” 

The answer, of course, made precisely nobody happy. Women’s rights advocates want one of the WNBA’s most prominent female players to take a stance and back her teammate—and girls across America. LGBT activists want her to rebuke Cunningham and endorse the idea of trans-identifying males in female sporting events, and the fact that Clark declined to do so (thus far) is another indication of their waning cultural power.

The WNBA has also been plagued by questions about another player—this one, in a different country entirely. Julie Tétart is a trans-identifying male and “the most dominant player in the French women’s basketball league,” playing for Monaco in France’s second-tier women’s league, Ligue Féminine 2. He is dominating, averaging 21 points and 20 rebounds per game in the 2025-26 season, and has been named the All-French LF2 Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Domestic Player of the Year.

READ: Is WNBA star Sophie Cunningham the next Riley Gaines?

Tétart, it turns out, has a “childhood dream” of playing in the WNBA, telling Fox News that “if they contact me, I won’t say no.” Fox News asked WNBA if he would be eligible. The response? Crickets: “Neither organization responded to the initial inquiries or a subsequent follow-up specifically addressing Tétart’s eligibility under the collective bargaining agreement.” This despite the fact that the WNBA’s CBA states clearly that: “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”

This, of course, depends on the answer to that now infamous question that dogs LGBT activists: What is a woman? The WNBA didn’t provide a definition, despite the fact that the CBA “contains detailed definitions for dozens of other terms.” When Caitlin Clark was asked if trans-identifying players are eligible, she passed the ball to the league authorities. They’re holding it, but they’re hiding it. Thus far, they refuse to answer the question.

But their bluff is being called. Former NBA player Enes Kanter announced on August 7 that he will be applying to join the WNBA:

“After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a WNBA prospect,” he wrote on X. “If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.” His announcement video has already racked up over 24 million views. 

Hours later, a second former NBA player did the same. Royce White, a first-round NBA pick in 2012, says he will be applying for the 2027 WNBA draft. 

“I’m transgender,” White announced. “I’m a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well. I think I’d be unstoppable. But I’m a team-first guy. I’m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things. I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything. I’ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I’ll do whatever the girls need me to do… I think it’s only fair.”

White, who is also on the ballot for Minnesota’s senatorial primary, did say that if the WNBA announced a policy change, he might reconsider. “I don’t want to be discriminated against. I want fair treatment. I’m a young Black, hopefully United States Senator that would like a fair chance to participate as a sometimes-identifying-as-a-transgender-woman athlete.”

This is quite possibly one of the funniest and most effective ways of calling the WNBA’s bluff I’ve ever seen. I look forward to seeing how it plays out.

Jonathon’s writings have been translated into more than six languages and in addition to LifeSiteNews, has been published in the National Post, National Review, First Things, The Federalist, The American Conservative, The Stream, the Jewish Independent, the Hamilton Spectator, Reformed Perspective Magazine, and LifeNews, among others. He is a contributing editor to The European Conservative.

His insights have been featured on CTV, Global News, and the CBC, as well as over twenty radio stations. He regularly speaks on a variety of social issues at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

He is the author of The Culture War, Seeing is Believing: Why Our Culture Must Face the Victims of Abortion, Patriots: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Pro-Life Movement, Prairie Lion: The Life and Times of Ted Byfield, and co-author of A Guide to Discussing Assisted Suicide with Blaise Alleyne.

Jonathon serves as the communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.

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