WNBA player Natasha Cloud had a message for transgender people Sunday night.
The Chicago Sky guard wrote on social media that trans people “belong,” that they’re loved, seen and “perfect as you are.” She added that they would always be “protected” by her.
It came after Cloud confronted Enes Kanter Freedom during the Sky’s 113-90 loss to the Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena on Sunday night. Freedom has spent the past few weeks pushing the WNBA on something that really shouldn’t be difficult to answer: Can a male play in a women’s professional basketball league?
Cloud answered a question nobody asked.
The fight isn’t over who gets through the doors at a WNBA arena. Freedom is asking whether a male is allowed to play in a women’s league. Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham , saying “biological men” shouldn’t compete in women’s sports.
But there’s a reason the conversation keeps getting dragged somewhere else: defending males in women’s sports is a much harder argument to make than simply declaring “trans people belong.”
And Cloud wasn’t the only one doing this over the weekend.
The New York Liberty hosted the Fever at Barclays Center on Saturday, and the scoreboard featured messages specifically welcoming transgender fans.
“Welcome Trans Liberty fans! You are loved and you belong!” one read.
Another said, “Hey trans fans! Glad you’re here! Go Liberty!”
Outside the arena, transgender activists showed up to counter a rally supporting Cunningham and chanted “trans lives matter.”
Okay. Sure.
Transgender fans are welcome at basketball games. Treat them like everyone else in the building.
Now, can we talk about the actual issue?
Because the response to Cunningham is a perfect example of whats been happening in this debate for years.
Back in 2023, USA Today columnist Nancy Armour went after ESPN’s Sam Ponder for supporting fairness in women’s sports.
Armour called Ponder’s position “bigotry” and accused Riley Gaines and others fighting to keep males out of women’s sports of promoting hate.
I wrote at the time that Gaines wasn’t “anti-trans.” She was pro-woman.
Gaines’ position has always been that the women’s category should be reserved for females. You can disagree with her, but at least disagree with what she’s actually saying.
Calling her a bigot or a transphobe is much easier than explaining why she’s wrong.
A few months later, I <a href="https://www.outkick.com/culture/riley-gaines-seems-less-welcome-at-harvard-than-anti-israel-contingent-outkick-attended-her-event-there" target="_blank" rel="noopener n
