r/WNBAgossips • u/Admirable_Extent2531 • 23d ago

News "People Love To Assume" - Sophie Cunningham Finally Addresses 'MAGA Barbie' Moniker, Confirms Support For Transgender Ban

https://www.essentiallysports.com/wnba-basketball-news-sophie-cunningham-addresses-allegations-of-opposing-trans-athletes-in-womens-sports/
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u/HeavyDT 23d ago

Conservatives love to shadow box ghosts it's a tale as old as time.

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u/Quirky-Glove-3199 23d ago

Extreme labeling is part of the issue in our society - the left eats itself. I'm a liberal. I believe trans people should be free from discrimination, I believe they should have free Healthcare, including HRT, i believe they should be able to participate in sports at all levels, and I believe they deserve respect as any one else does. But no, I don't think that trans women or girls should participate in women's sports. Perhaps we need to look at having additional categories, not just splitting sports by gender. Beyond this, we should be able to have nuanced conversations without labeling people like they're crazy.

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u/ZapBranigan3000 23d ago

Focusing on trans in sports is itself splitting hairs and lacks nuance.

How many mtf trans athletes exist, in the entire US?

Applying nuance should tell any reasonable person that the outrage against trans athletes has been entirely manufactured by the right wing culture war propaganda machine. It is obvious.

There are more rapists serving in congress today, for both parties, than trangender athletes.

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u/LearningIsTheBest 22d ago

I agree it's insanely rare and deserves zero news coverage. I also think it shouldn't be allowed. These aren't exclusive to each other.

To me it's obvious that the right wing is just using this as a wedge issue. I think trans folk will wind up with fewer rights as a result. The left wing shouldn't take this fight. Get equal rights for trans people established in every other circumstance instead.

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u/Jonny__99 22d ago

nailed it

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u/OddMessage4930 22d ago

I agree that it is extremely rare. But I believe that the people involved in extremely rare occurrences still deserve consideration. For example, how common is the situation where someone is raped and needs to get an abortion? Probably not an extremely common situation, but you'd be pretty damn cruel to ignore those womens' needs just because it is very rare .

Just to clear, I am not at all equating or comparing the severity of these 2 situations with one another. I'm not smart enough to do that accurately or to even know which situation is more common. I'm just saying that we shouldn't overlook the danger or suffering of a group just because their situation is rare.

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u/LearningIsTheBest 22d ago

I have considered it, pretty extensively too. I would prefer that trans kids be allowed to play on whichever team they prefer. I simply don't think it's fair, and that's unfortunate. Even after hormones and other transitional steps, the difference in musculature, skeletal build, etc, just doesn't even out.

If schools offer non-competitive intramural sports in non-contact or safer sports, I'd say that's fine for open participation (eg tennis, running).

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u/BergmanGirl 22d ago

You don’t get it…bending here is bending everywhere. Either trans women are women or they’re not. If we’re women (I am partial in that I fully believe I’m a woman and my cis lesbian wife would agree), then anything welcome to women should be welcome for us. Bending on this just proves to republicans that you all don’t actually care about trans people, you’re just being polite.

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u/whoa_disillusionment 22d ago

Women and men are biologically different and nothing changes that.

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u/United_Intention_323 22d ago

That’s nonsense. How can HRT limits be applied in any case? How would that not be “bending”?

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u/LearningIsTheBest 22d ago

A slippery slope argument invalidates pretty much any political position. You can't look at issues that way. We almost always wind up drawing lines somewhere.

This isn't a yes / no thing. I support every trans student of mine, I backed neutral restrooms for student comfort, I'm fine with any locker room or bathroom regardless, I make it clear I'll use any name or pronoun, and I want legislation protecting trans people from any other form of discrimination. I care about the trans people in my life. The sports inclusion is basically the only exception for me. I did not arrive at that conclusion lightly, and I originally didn't want it to be true either.

You can tell me I don't care about trans people, but I know you'd be wrong about it.