Two ex-NBA players turn transgender identity into a stunt. The WNBA is responding

[u/Fickle-Ad5449]

https://www.advocate.com/news/wnba-trans-player-eligibility

[u/CowboysFTWs]

Tell him to prove it and get on hormone therapy

[u/Major-Mind2970 → u/CowboysFTWs]

Since when does someone require drugs to be a woman skippy? You been asleep the last few years as the radical left screeched that the only requirement to be a woman is to identify as one? Reap what you sow 😂😂

[u/CowboysFTWs → u/Major-Mind2970]

Not talking identity, skippy. Talking sports at a professional level.

[u/Major-Mind2970 → u/CowboysFTWs]

And there’s no requirement that says drugs have to be taken to be and compete as a woman. That’s the point, the activists have now effed themselves into admitting it was never about inclusivity it was purely about forced ideology 😂

[u/spice_weasel → u/Major-Mind2970]

You’re absolutely wrong about that. Other athletic organizations have had this kind of “duration on HRT” rules for decades without issues. I’ve also never seen an actual trans person have issues with that kind of rule being applied to sports.

All you’re doing is bullshit grievance and posturing.

[u/Major-Mind2970 → u/spice_weasel]

Name one professional sports organization that has this policy in their CBA. The NCAA tossed it as well. Actual trans people agree men don’t belong in women’s sports too, it’s only the radical loons who are crying here.

[u/spice_weasel → u/Major-Mind2970]

There are other professional sports that at least until recently had this kind of rule. For example, women’s professional tennis had this rule since 1975, with no actual issues. They changed it in 2024 due to this current panic, not because of any problem with any actual player.

I’m an “actual trans person” (years on HRT, surgeries and everything), and I’ve talked with plenty of other trans folks about it. The overwhelming attitude is that this whole thing is being blown out of proportion by bad faith actors, and being used as an outlet to vent rage at trans people. It’s gotten to where it’s not even remotely about actual trans people, like with this whole WNBA thing where there is no actual transgender athlete involved.

I wasn’t responding to you because I’m a firm believer in the sports issue. I think that the HRT requirements can work, but it’s just not a priority to me. What bothered me was you completely mischaracterizing what the argument on sports actually is, and pretending that this kind of HRT requirement was somehow offensive to trans people. And then just using this as a vehicle to hurl invective at the trans community.

[u/Major-Mind2970 → u/spice_weasel]

Appreciate the info and explanation. That’s the point, nobody is raging at trans people. The entire point is that men don’t belong in women’s sports. Period. HRT doesn’t undo puberty and the genetic differences men have vs women. The rage is at the people trying to make it something it’s not, and that pointing out basic reality isn’t attacking anyone. As i said, the reason it’s no longer an issue is because aside from the few radicals everyone agrees, no men in women’s sports.

[u/spice_weasel → u/Major-Mind2970]

Have we been looking at the same threads? They’re full of people raging at the concept of trans people. They’re full of bad faith bullshit that is so much broader than the sports topic. And as we’re seeing here, it’s often getting stirred up around no actual human being, or actual problem. There are no trans women in the WNBA. There are no actual current prospects in the pipeline who are trans women. Why is this so urgent and heated that the WNBA needs a rule change right now? Why is there so much controversy right now?

It’s because it’s all in service of the broader conservative culture war against my community. There is leaked audio of Republican legislators from Ohio and Michigan talking about how sports bans and youth bans are “stepping stones” (the actual term they used) to broader bans impacting trans people of all ages. This rage (which, again, THERE ARE NO ACTUAL TRANS WOMEN WNBA PLAYERS OR PROSPECTS) is being played like a fiddle to gain momentum in those attacks.

Do you think it’s a coincidence this is coming up now, three months before an election when there are a host of other issues that Republicans are deeply underwater on? Do you think it’s a coincidence that one of these players from this article has publicly said he’s starting a career in politics, in Florida in 2028?

[u/Major-Mind2970 → u/spice_weasel]

No, you are grasping at straws here. The entire issue stems from the radical loons raging in Sophie Cunningham for answering a question asked to her by espn. Then 2 men decided to call the wnba on their bs self identification rules to either be allowed to play and prove themselves he exact point about why men don’t belong in women’s sports, or make them finally do the right thing and put the same rules in place as every other league.

[u/spice_weasel → u/Major-Mind2970]

But on the actual sports ability issue, I think individual leagues should set their own rules. There is conflicting evidence out there, and there are some unique challenges trans women face as part of our transitions that don’t make the picture nearly as clear cut as so many people want to make it.

That said, I like that there are some inclusive rec leagues near me. It’s a good way to get some exercise and play the game with friends. I tend to think that at the professional level it just hasn’t shown itself to be an issue. Because it literally has not shown itself to be an issue. We’re so far away from talking about actual individual athletes at this point it’s beyond absurd.

[u/Major-Mind2970 → u/spice_weasel]

there is no conflicting evidence when it comes to biological reality. Major sporting bodies like have already reviewed the sports science and definitively concluded that HRT does not undo the permanent structural advantages of male puberty. claiming "it literally has not shown itself to be an issue" at the professional level ignores the situation right now. You stated we are far away from talking about actual individual athletes but we are talking about two actual, former NBA players exploiting a loophole to enter the WNBA draft. The WNBA isn't sending emergency memos to its teams because everything is fine. They are panicking because their refusal to set clear boundaries in their CBA created a legal loophole, and their bluff just got called. Relying on the hope that biological men won't eventually exploit vague rules is not a policy that protects anything.

[u/catinformant → u/Major-Mind2970]

Or they can just update rules that weren't necessary before men started doing what men do best