Cheryl Reeve, coach of the Minnesota Lynx, has again spoken out in support of the transgender community after her team’s regular season finale against the Indiana Fever. The remarks came Thursday at Target Center, where competing rallies over trans athletes in women’s sports took place for the third time this season.
Minnesota’s head coach spoke on the matter following the team’s 66-86 season-ending triumph over the Fever. It was at least the fourth occasion this campaign that Reeve has brought up transgender issues during a press conference at the WNBA.
“It’s that the transgender community is one that deserves our support, and what is happening in the name of some issues of transgender in sports — it’s really an attack on all transgender community,” Reeve said. “They don’t want transgender people to exist.”
Reeve’s shirt and the Aug. 2 game
Reeve previously wore a “Trans Kids Belong” T-shirt during the Lynx’s previous home game against Indiana on Aug. 2. That game came shortly after Fever guard Sophie Cunningham publicly supported keeping biological males out of women’s and girls’ sports.
Before the Aug. 2 game, Reeve and Cunningham spoke at midcourt. Reeve later said the two understood they had platforms and shared an interest in educating people, even though they disagreed on the issue.
“I think that’s probably one of the more meaningful things that would mark the season for me,” Reeve said. “It’s that the transgender community is one that deserves our support, and what is happening in the name of some issues of transgender in sports — it’s really an attack on all transgender community. They don’t want transgender people to exist.”
The rally outside Target Center
“Save Women’s Sports” activists held another rally in support of Fever star Sophie Cunningham outside Target Center for the second time this season on Thursday. Pro-trans counterprotesters responded, creating a scene of competing demonstrations around the arena.
Demonstrators also came out for the Lynx’s game against the Golden State Valkyries on Aug. 19. The Aug. 2 game between the Lynx and Fever drew its own crowd of protesters.
What Reeve said Thursday
Thursday saw Reeve reveal that donning the shirt was a “small gesture,” yet messages from transgender people and their families turned it into one of the most meaningful moments of her season.
“The amount of communication of people who were affected by something as simple as wearing a T-shirt in support of them and helping them be seen — with the platform that we have in professional sports, it was a small gesture by me,” Reeve said. “It’s something I believe in, obviously, wholeheartedly.”
“If I could have helped just one to feel differently about themselves, because for the transgender community this really is about life and death for them,” she continued. “The number of parents of transgender kids that I heard from and how it helped them and their families, it helped their child think differently about themselves and that there is someone in our position, like we have as a leader. To know that there are people out there that believe in them, that they belong.”
Reeve’s earlier comments
Reeve first addressed the subject during a July media availability following the Supreme Court’s rulings upholding state laws restricting transgender participation in women’s sports. She called the political focus on the issue “sort of sickening” and said “exclusion is never the answer.”
Before the Lynx’s Aug. 2 meeting with Indiana, when a rally supporting Cunningham’s position was held outside Target Center, she returned to it. Reeve defended the demonstrators’ right to assemble but rejected the argument that transgender athletes represented one of the most pressing problems facing women’s sports.
At the time, “Every kid has a right to sports, regardless of gender diverse, transgender,” Reeve noted that eligibility questions become more nuanced after puberty, even as she acknowledged them.
After the game, Reeve revisited her chat with Cunningham and once more expressed her conviction that transgender children should be allowed to take part in sports. She also stated that campaigners concentrating on transgender participation were overlooking other problems facing female athletes, such as insufficient facilities, uniforms and locker rooms.
Cunningham’s position
Cunningham has maintained that her position is not rooted in hatred.
“I think that I am here to extend love,” Cunningham previously said. “But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
The league brought together team leaders during the season in response to the argument. The WNBA stated that no transgender eligibility issues currently affected the league, while keeping fairness, competitive integrity and inclusion among its priorities. No transgender woman has competed in the WNBA.
The season’s pattern
Indiana’s Aug. 2 game at Reeve was the third time this season that competing rallies took place during a Lynx home game. Earlier in the season, an Aug. 19 game against the Valkyries saw a similar display of rival fan energy.
Reeve addressed the issue at least four times this season during media sessions. Her comments Thursday came after Minnesota finished the regular season with a league-best 33-11 record. Indiana fell to 28-16 and entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.
What this means for the WNBA
The league’s willingness to convene team leaders during the season shows the issue is not going away. The WNBA’s stated priorities of fairness, competitive integrity and inclusion leave room for both sides, even though no transgender woman has played in the league.
Reeve’s method is plain: she raises her voice, puts on a shirt, speaks about the subject, and then lets it go. The gatherings still endure.
The stakes Reeve cited
The most striking words Reeve spoke Thursday concerned the life-and-death stakes she described for young trans people. She cited messages from parents of transgender kids and said the T-shirt was a small gesture with outsized effect.
There is no resolution yet, and the WNBA understands that. The league currently has no pressing transgender eligibility issues to deal with.
The pattern of Reeve’s responses
- Reeve’s July media availability following the Supreme Court’s rulings, where she called the political focus “sort of sickening” and said “exclusion is never the answer.”
- Her Aug. 2 remarks before the Lynx’s game against Indiana, where she defended demonstrators’ right to assemble while rejecting the argument that transgender athletes are the most pressing problem for women’s sports.
- Her conversation with Cunningham after the Aug. 2 game, in which she reiterated her belief that transgender children should have access to sports.
- Her remarks Thursday after the regular season finale, where she called the T-shirt a small gesture but said the response from transgender people and their families made it meaningful.
The pattern indicates a coach who is not hesitant to speak on behalf of the league, without having to wait for an official statement. This season, Reeve has addressed this issue four times.
The WNBA’s statement, which emphasizes fairness, competitive integrity and inclusion, does not resolve the underlying disagreement. It leaves the question of whether trans athletes belong in women’s sports open for another season.
The pattern holds true across Reeve’s presentation. She puts on the shirt, she speaks about it, and she returns to the life-and-death stakes she described for young trans people.
More demonstrations are expected to take place. The WNBA presently has no pending transgender eligibility issues, though the league remains in the midst of considering the competing interests of its players and its sponsors. Reeve will go on speaking up for the transgender community, even when the crowd outside does not agree with her.
What the season has turned into is a coach who will not sit quietly, a league that has yet to settle on its place, and a community that feels heard — even though the people around them take issue with that.
Source material: “Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve voices support for the trans community again after regular season finale vs Fever,” Fox News.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.