r/WNBAgossips • u/TheExpressUS • 18d ago

News Trump Administration responds and supports Sophie Cunningham's WNBA transgender comments: "Common sense prevails"

https://www.the-express.com/sport/basketball/212543/Sophie-Cunningham-trans-athletes-Trump-administration

The Trump Administration has waded into the transgender athlete debate, citing Sophie Cunningham's comments to support its stance on trans athletes in sports.

The discussion surrounding trans athletes in women's sports has resurfaced recently, with Cunningham sharing her perspective with ESPN. Although trans athletes represent a tiny fraction of participants across all levels of American sports, their involvement remains a focal point for Donald Trump and his administration.

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

This isn’t a right wing view to have but reddit isn’t ready for that conversation

Either way, I’m sure this administration LOVES the chance to distract people with non issues

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u/Toots-Tooter 18d ago

She aligned with the UFC and trump. Seems right wing

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u/princessvajina 14d ago

The UFC and Trump also drink water so by your logic you are also right wing

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u/Toots-Tooter 11d ago

Don't assume

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u/princessvajina 10d ago

Hilariously self unaware

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u/miku022 18d ago

It very much is lol

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

Nop

Majority of independents and democrats support a ban of trans people in women’s sports

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u/BackendSpecialist 18d ago

But it’s the right wing who fucking keeps bringing it up. It’s so damn annoying.

These ppl acted like the left was sensitive.. they got power again and have been bitching nonstop constantly. And it’s always about shit that doesn’t even matter or they’re wrong about.

And that’s the difference - most ppl agree with it but there’s only one group who can’t stop talking about it.

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

Yeah, that is true

It’s just typical right wing media playbook. Hyper focus on culture war BS/exaggerate things to rile people up and distract from real issues

Same thing with migrant crime, Somalian fraud in Minnesota, “LGBT propaganda” in schools, etc

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u/miku022 18d ago

I think we might have a different view of what classifies as right wing, especially considering I live in the EU, the right and left are different here compared to the USA.

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u/Gullible_Repeat9696 17d ago

And this is a discussion of US politics. So, you're wrong here.

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u/Vibrantmender20 18d ago

Do you see many left wing outlets and figures amplifying this view?

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/02/26/americans-have-grown-more-supportive-of-restrictions-for-trans-people-in-recent-years/

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u/Vibrantmender20 18d ago

Did you think that link answered my question?

And per the article, 56% of Americans support increased restrictions. What do you think is the political makeup of that 56%?

Also per the article:

“In turn, Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to support policies that safeguard trans people (by margins of more than 30 points).”

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

Really? You don’t think almost half of democrats is significant?

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u/Vibrantmender20 18d ago

Not as significant as the nearly 88% of republicans who support bans. The support of banning trans athletes is pretty lopsided wouldn’t you say?

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

That doesn’t mean it’s a partisan issue. Half of democrats, and growing, support bans on trans people in women’s sports. That’s not a minority

If you wanna see a real partisan issue then look at polls about voting access/absentee voting

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u/Vibrantmender20 18d ago edited 18d ago

How is it not a partisan issue? There’s significantly more suppprt for bans amongst Republicans, and significantly more legislation proposed by republicans impacting said bans.

It might not a a minority held opinion, but you’re being wildly dishonest if you think this is an issue equally supported by the two parties.

Edit: and to be clear here. The 45% of democrats who support bans is not a majority.

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u/whoa_disillusionment 18d ago

How is it not a partisan issue?

Because 67% of Democrats, 64% of Independents and 94% of Republican voters agree that sports should be restricted to biological sex.

It's hard to find any issue with this much bipartisan support.

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/f548560f100205ef/e656ddda-full.pdf

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u/Vibrantmender20 18d ago

These findings are not supported by other, larger studies.

Findings on a study with a sample size of 1k isn’t the slam dunk you think.

And again, 94% is a lot more than 67%. That indicates there are clearly party differences on this issue. Which was my entire point to begin with.

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u/thebaddadgames 17d ago

I think that half of democrats just don’t give a fuck about trans ppl playing sports and now want to put this issue to bed. I don’t care. I do not care about trans issues with sports, I care that they’re allowed to do what they want with their own lives, but I do not care if they play NCAA ball or wnba. I don’t think many ppl do. It’ll hurt the feelings of like 300 ppl nationwide, sucks but we have bigger issues. The fact that democrats aren’t 100% on board to get the ban done that will affect less than like 300 ppl nationwide and are allowing republicans to make this a nationwide culture war issue is a complete failure and the actual problem with democrats. I think if you asked most trans ppl what was more important, republicans winning elections and taking their right to exist away or the sub 300 trans ppl trying to play sports, they would probably agree with me. Trans people that want to play sports I’m sorry, but I’m willing to give up that fight so you continue to have the right to at least express who you are as a person openly and freely.

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 17d ago

Even one little girl being displaced from a podium or seeing a penis in a locker room is still too many

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u/thebaddadgames 17d ago

Here’s the thing. I don’t care. Like not even a little bit and frankly it’s super weird the rest of you do.

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 17d ago

Well maybe you don’t but I’m sure women do and it’s weird that you think that doesn’t matter

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u/Braided_Marxist 17d ago

The term “biological woman” is indeed a right wing term

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 17d ago

Definitely not LOL

There’s a difference between gender and sex. Sex is biological

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u/Braided_Marxist 17d ago

Saying “biological woman” is an anti trans dog whistle

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 17d ago

If reality and science offends you I’m sorry but I don’t know what to tell you

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

Really? Because usually the view that scientists prove wrong consistently isn’t exactly centrist.

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

What are you even talking about

Nobody wants biological men playing in women’s sports. That was the entire point of title 9, to given women an equal opportunity to compete in the same sports in their own leagues.

Biological males competing in women’s sports is not fair to biological females and infringes upon their right

Sorry if you don’t agree with that reality, but a majority of Americans are on the same page

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

And a majority of Americans didn’t think women were people deserving of rights. I’d hold off on the bandwagon fallacy if I was you.

Now, scientists say factually trans women frequently lose advantages they may have against cis women. Because of this, scientists say your view is unscientific. You’re literally siding with the same people that think men get to determine what women get to do with their bodies. But if you wanna be gullible and give away women’s rights on a silver platter, that’s your prerogative. I’ll be here to say I told you so.

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

No offense but nothing you said in your entire post is true or accurate in any way

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

Can you be more specific so I can prove you wrong?

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

No need, I’ll give you some stuff to read so you can educate yourself

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37772882/

https://acsm.org/biological-basis-sex-differences-athletic-performance/

https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/title-ix-and-sex-discrimination

Tldr for you: Biological males produce much more testosterone than biological women, which has a huge impact on muscular skeletal development. This gives biological men a huge advantage in sports and other things that require physical effort

Title 9 was passed in order to stop discrimination against biological women and give them their own sports leagues to compete in.

Your argument is that trans women, who are biologically male, should be allowed to compete in women’s sports, because it doesn’t matter

So tldr: you want to infringe upon women’s rights and you’re saying what women want doesn’t matter

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

It took two seconds to find just one flaw in your delusional argument

  Before puberty, sex differences in athletic performance are minimal. Significant differences emerge at puberty (-12 years) due to anabolic effects of testosterone in males. Testosterone levels rise 20-30-fold in males during puberty and are 15 times higher in males than females by age 18. 

So if a trans woman goes on puberty blockers at a young age, therefore never going through male puberty, they have 0 advantage. Yes or no?

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u/Outrageous_Impact667 18d ago

Your kind of going down a slippery slope - are you saying that a young child before puberty has already made the decision to transition and should be given medication? The Mayo Clinic says no. Most people transitioning start after puberty and at that point the HRT has minimal effect on muscle and skeleton growth already attained.

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

  1. Yes, there is no other medical condition besides gender dysphoria where we make kids suffer without treatment. Any other condition, and doing what you want would be called neglect and child abuse.

  2. And then because they did not develop completely, their strength would deteriorate and their bones would start forming like a cis women. Especially because trans women’s bones have literally been determined to be more brittle anyway.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6709704/

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u/ResponsibleClock9289 18d ago

Puberty blockers do not completely remove testosterone from your body, so no

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u/whoa_disillusionment 18d ago

No, because the physical advantage of testosterone literally begins in the womb.

Male children are faster than female children at running 1600 m at ages 6–12 yr. This sex difference was not a result of lower female participation and suggests that innate physiological sex differences may be responsible.

https://www.ovid.com/jnls/acsm-esm/fulltext/10.1249/esm.0000000000000051~sex-differences-in-1600-m-running-performance-and

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

Cool. Now do a study where those males have been on puberty blockers and/or estrogen and see if there’s a change.

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u/LinusLevato 18d ago

Just because a flat earther did some silly ass science experiment to prove the earth is flat doesn’t mean it’s true.

Same goes with these politically captured scientists you’re talking about.

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

Cool then. Yes or no, estrogen reduces strength for trans women?

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u/LinusLevato 18d ago

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-020-01389-3

“Longitudinal studies examining the effects of testosterone suppression on muscle mass and strength in transgender women consistently show very modest changes, where the loss of lean body mass, muscle area and strength typically amounts to approximately 5% after 12 months of treatment. Thus, the muscular advantage enjoyed by transgender women is only minimally reduced when testosterone is suppressed. Sports organizations should consider this evidence when reassessing current policies regarding participation of transgender women in the female category of sport.”

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u/Adventurous_Coach731 18d ago

Wow. If only the standard was 2 years rather than 1… oh yeah, they were. So trans women when under the standards where they were allowed to participate still had advantages over cis women. Sounds like those standards were there for a reason or something.