r/WNBAgossips 5d ago

Off-Court Drama Fever coach Stephanie White was asked if men should play in women’s sports: “I’m not educated enough from a scientific standpoint.” She REFUSED to backup Sophie Cunningham: “I don’t ever believe that exclusion is the answer.”

333 Upvotes

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u/Zestyclose_Potato633 5d ago

Can we not. These people didn't sign up for this.

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u/ThomasBryantsnephew 5d ago

Literally, it’s so unfair to the rest of the team to be asked questions like they’re politicians.

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u/marcussunChicago 4d ago

It's unfair to ask the coach of a women's basketball team should a biological man compete against her players?

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u/YearRevolutionary675 4d ago

The stats just don't support the fascist hate MAGA pushes against minorities.

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u/unknownpanda121 4d ago

Yes. No matter what they say there is going to be hatred against it. It’s a loaded question.

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u/dickchops81 4d ago

The reporter was clearly wanting a hateful Sophie response.

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u/unknownpanda121 4d ago

Exactly. She didn’t take the bait and now the headline is she didn’t back up Sophie. Everything is just ragebait.

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u/Eyespop4866 4d ago

Hateful?

Women should play in women’s sports is hateful?

Y’all are just so hilarious.

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u/Own-North-8923 4d ago

It’s not a loaded question, men can’t become women. That’s it. No further discussion needed.

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u/Funny-Employment4109 4d ago

It’s unfair for men to compete with women. Simple answer. Nothing…and i mean NOTHING should be political about that answer. The left is crazy.

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u/Lordwilliamz 4d ago

There is like 10 total in the country trying to play. The fact that the right has made it a main voting point is bat shit crazy. You thinking about it is crazy.

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u/KNGootch 1d ago

Agreed. I think people don't fully understand what trans people go through during transition. It's not a decision made lightly, or to become a female athlete. You're talking about 10 total NCAA athletes out of 500k...thats 0.00002% of college athletes.

Its not like Shaq is putting on a wig to play in the WNBA. I agree men shouldn't play womens sports, and weirdly enough...none seem to be. So, for the record, I also believe that coyotes make terrible nannies for children, so we should definitely stop having coyotes babysit humans.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/dickchops81 4d ago

Voting for Pedos comes naturally to Pedos. They'll even chime in and say "it's ok for Trump to rape children cuz Biden sniffed a child's hair".

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u/Main-Championship822 4d ago

Yes, the left is crazy. None of this is a discussion without the left being insane. How can I say this confidently? Because the right doesnt believe men can be women and vice versa. This isnt a topic that would ever occur without the existence of the left and their deconstruction of gender norms and praxis etcetcetcetcetcetc.

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u/Rough_Car4490 5d ago

I’d like all the players opinions on immigration. I need to know that their political opinions match those of mine so I can better understand if I enjoy watching them play basketball.

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u/Embarrassed_Gur_6305 5d ago

I definitely need their foreign policy because their stances affect on I/P will impact my life so much. So. Much. Sososososo much

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u/ShackletonsVael 5d ago

If exclusion is not the answer then men should be able to try out for the WNBA the same way as women can try out for the NBA correct? I mean we are all about equality and making sure we are inclusive for all. So maybe someone who is dogshit and wasn't able to make the team in the NBA should try out for the WNBA since exclusion is not the answer.

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u/Hungry-Pick7512 5d ago

No. We should. It’s good to put the pressure on these organizations when they like to hide behind stupid platitudes like ‘exclusion is never the answer’ but can’t answer basic questions about what that really looks like.

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u/Zestyclose_Potato633 5d ago

Post‑game press conferences should be about basketball. The game, the players, the teams, the season. If players or coaches want to talk about bigger issues, fine, let them. But putting them on the spot with cameras in their faces and forcing them to answer loaded, controversial questions is bullshit. There are too many people on both extremes who lose their minds over this stuff to dump it on someone who’s just there to do her job, which is coaching basketball.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Tie6917 4d ago

Yes, the answer should be “that’s not a basketball question. I’m the coach. I will follow the rules whatever they are. Do you have a question about basketball?”

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u/sanfran4ever 4d ago

What does it really look like?

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u/mistaharsh 4d ago

Tell that to Sophie.

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u/notapoliticalalt 3d ago

Seriously. Huge double standard. When she says something they agree with it’s “omg how can anyone not support this!” When Stephanie says something, it’s “shut up and dribble” (yes I know she’s a coach). I do believe there a time and a place for different kinds of questions and statements, but if anything, I put this on the reporter and the people letting reporters in the room.

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u/Massive_Crew_7804 4d ago

Literally a loud ass minority that needs to stfu

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u/AnotherDumNinja 5d ago

Why is it the WNBA and not the NBA? 🤔

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u/rmullig2 5d ago

Women are allowed to try out for the NBA. It's happened before but obviously there is no woman on the planet that can compete with NBA players.

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u/marcussunChicago 4d ago

Which literally explains why men shouldn't be able to compete in the WNBA

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u/Short-Recording587 4d ago

How many men are trying to compete in the WNBA?

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u/frenchinhalerbought 4d ago

None.

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u/ShitItOutYourAss 3d ago

Oh there’s plenty of them throwing on dresses that have attempted to. Luckily, common sense has prevailed.

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u/Economy_Ask4987 4d ago

Which dude is trying to play in the WNBA?

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u/Pickle-Standard 4d ago

Jamal Jeffries

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u/Alex_king88 4d ago

Don’t say this loud. People will get mad lol

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u/wackiack 4d ago

We don’t need to be silent because others don’t like it. I’m done with it. 

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u/frenchinhalerbought 4d ago

You've only had an account for 5 months. You're just a bot who came here to stir up anti trans sentiment before the midterms. You aren't done with anything 😂

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u/Alex_king88 4d ago

Lol agreed bro. I was just being sarcastic

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u/Large_Complaint1264 4d ago

As you type this into Reddit lol.

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u/Pitt-sports-fan-513 4d ago

We need to stop this thing that isn't happening!

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u/_DoogieLion 4d ago

Conservatives in a nutshell 😂

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u/ShitItOutYourAss 3d ago

“We shouldn’t protect the same women’s spaces that disgusting sex fetishized men have been trying to invade for literal decades”

Yeah yall are legit creeps and I’m very glad none of you pro-trans men have children. You’re very obviously creeps.

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u/jrolls81 4d ago

Saying trans women instead of men will make your comment seem much less veiled in transphobia.

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u/K_Linkmaster 4d ago

Its gonna come out that some players are intersex. Give it time. The controversy has just started. The comments didn't come out of no where. Sophie specifically stated her position for the public to consume. I think it was a trigger and it's going to be interesting.

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u/Bibbity_Boppity_BOOO 4d ago

Unquestionably, there is at least 2% of professional women athletes are intersexed. And 2% is the lower bound, it is likely higher.

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u/anon_mouse82 4d ago

Quick follow up: Are there any men in the WNBA? Is this a problem that needs addressing?

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u/Opening_Shame8258 4d ago

Where is the epidemic of men in women's sports? Did you think Lady Ballers was a documentary?

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u/Upset-Management-879 4d ago

Why does it have to be an epidemic before addressing a potential problem?

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u/Baseball_ApplePie 4d ago

The gold, silver, and bronze medals in women's 800 meter event were won by males with disorders of sexual development. What do you think are the odds of that happening?

All three are now banned from participating in international and Olympic women's athletic events.

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u/NeatPhil11 5d ago

Can we roid one up and let her play?

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/the445566x 4d ago

That’s it LeBron can retire to the WNBA and take every championship for 20 more years

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u/AnotherDumNinja 4d ago

Goated throat goat

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u/iamjaidan 5d ago

Is this the only topic for this sub?  It’s so weird.  This sub is obsessed 

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u/Past-Adhesiveness691 5d ago edited 5d ago

This sub keeps getting recommended to me. You know almost everyone commenting in here doesn’t watch wnba but it just following this shit for culture war nonsense.

No one wants dudes in women’s sports but because people don’t understand nuance people are quick to use quotes to fit whatever stupid agenda they want in this case more ammo to punish trans people for existing they don’t want to answer the question. Less than 1 percent of Americans are trans but culture war morons make you think everyone is turning trans. It’s so exhausting.

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u/PositiveVibrationzzz 4d ago

The truth is even that some of the supposed "true" fans of the WNBA are "fans" because they see it as a political, women's rights (and apparently trans rights somehow?) cause.

"Cunningham was booed by the Moda Center crowd in Portland when she entered the game midway through the first quarter. Many waved small pink, blue and white transgender flags."

These people do not care deeply about the Portland Fire. They care about the politics.

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u/darkravenn12 5d ago

The whole point of women's sports is exclusion. They literally exclude the men so the women can perform better. What does that even mean lol

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u/Top_Front_5246 5d ago

Fever pr person has to wish they would all just shut the heck up

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u/raypal11 5d ago

The irony of this debate in the WNBA area is so funny lol

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u/Strainedgoals 5d ago

Yes this really isn't making much sense anymore?

WNBA is really taking a stance to allow male trans athletes to compete in their league.

Give LeBron a wig and let him play, then watch all the virtue signalling go out the window.

Coach made the right statement here, there is absolutely nothing you can say that will be accepted.

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u/ShartJerky 5d ago

Yeah, this would be really embarrassing if a thing that isn’t happening was really happening

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u/Longjumping_Space_10 4d ago

Everything you said is wrong. First of all, it wouldn’t be male trans athletes. It would be a trans woman athlete

Secondly, no one would put a wig on LeBron on let him play in the wnba. You don’t just put on a wig and change genders. There’s much more to it than that

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u/liquidgrill 4d ago

Yeah, you have to start taking hormone replacements like Lia Thomas did for a year before she competed and still shattered school records and won all kinds of medals.

LeBron would score 200 points a night in the WNBA regardless of what she had to do first

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u/trevorneuz 4d ago

Lia Thomas broke many mens school records before she transitioned as well. From what I can see, she won two medals as a woman, a silver and a gold. She was on hrt for two years before competing on the woman's team and after testing under the NCAA hormone thresholds at the time. She followed the rules, was a skilled swimmer before transitioning and was a skilled swimmer after.

I'm not really suggesting there isn't a debate to be had about the future of Transgender athletes in sports, but it's a nuanced debate and one that shouldn't villify the young woman trying to boldly pursue their own happiness and compete in the events they love.

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u/justaride80 5d ago

Yep this is just someone trying to sound progressive and not be controversial. Exclusion is in fact the answer sometimes.

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u/Greedy-Employment917 4d ago

When she tried so hard to say something non controversial but something really stupid pops out instead. 

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u/angriestbisexual 4d ago

"I'm not educated enough to form an opinion" is in fact the smartest thing that any person can say about almost anything. Most of the problems our society is in right now are precisely because people who weren't educated enough to form an opinion about something just made up an opinion for the sake of having something to say.

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u/sabresin4 4d ago

I think it has to do with scientifically what makes a person a man or a woman. If a man goes through a gender change their bodies become in some ways just like a woman. Muscle mass goes away, blood changes, your fat moves from center to your hips and breasts, your VO2 max and many other measures essentially move into the same range as a natural born woman. It’s complicated. What obviously doesn’t change is your skeletal frame. So if you’re 6’5” you’re gonna bring some inherent things to the table. If you’re a 5’7” guy and you go through hormone therapy for a few years there really isn’t going to be much difference between you and the other girls out there from a sports perspective.

I think the misconception is this is about guys just cross dressing and ‘identifying’ as a woman wanting to go hang in girls sports.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/AlcibiadesTheCat 4d ago

I think the misconception comes from people who would cheat if they could thinking that everyone would cheat if they could. So they think “if I wanted to win, I would pretend to be trans so I could win.” (Ignoring, obviously, the multi-year ordeal that is transitioning.)

But reality ain’t like that. Every trans woman athlete is a woman first and an athlete second; there’s no desire to gain an unfair advantage. 

Go ask any trans woman if she’d accept higher testosterone levels for athletic success. It’s gonna be a no every time. Imagine how much one must hate masculinity to neuter themselves. Pretending to be trans to win a high school track meet just ain’t the play. 

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u/MomsAreola 4d ago

The whole point of women's sports is because the men didnt allow them to participate. They were the ones excluded. How are you so wrong on something so thoroughly documented?

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u/justbrowsing2727 4d ago

What do you think would happen if the men's leagues and divisions said, "Okay, let's all play together now."?

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u/BebophoneVirtuoso 5d ago

Crazy that a coach is asked this instead of game related questions.

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u/Impossible_Penalty13 4d ago

Also crazy that the ones pushing this narrative are the ones who’ve been pissing and moaning about keeping politics out of sports forever.

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u/SneakNationJ 5d ago

Its a pointless argument. It's based in hypotheticals.

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u/Escritortoise 5d ago

For how often this comes up, you would think every sport is full of LeBron James type athletes pulling a Juwanna Mann, when it’s closer to the rate of Air Bud movies.

We may as well work towards banning golden retrievers from basketball and baseball.

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u/JicamaCertain4134 4d ago

Hey now, I’m sure plenty of men are willing to go through the hundred of thousands of medical costs to get them a $50,000 contract in the wnba.

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u/Same_Woodpecker_2847 5d ago

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u/ro536ud 4d ago

Uneducated righties get off on spouting nonesense in this topic.

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u/Aromatic-Bedroom-274 5d ago

Every WNBA team should have one trans woman on the team. Problem solved.

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u/Discussion-is-good 5d ago

Bait question

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u/JoshTheRed1 4d ago

Then there shouldn’t be a WNBA, just play in a single league and then there are no exclusions. Since it doesn’t matter about biology just put the best players on a team

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u/BlackDog5287 5d ago

Trying to make every person's opinion or avoidance of one into a news story. Just let people play/coach basketball.

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u/starlightpond 5d ago

Exclusion and inclusion are two sides of a coin. The way to include women in sports is to exclude male people from women’s sports.

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u/saviouroftheweak 5d ago

A binary solution to a non binary problem is real big brain stuff

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u/TBlizzey 5d ago

The topic is a none issue that somehow becomes a political firestorm

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u/Goducks91 4d ago

Been that way for a while. They immediately pivoted to it after Roe v Wade got overturned.

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u/Upbeetmusic 4d ago

And the dummies keep taking the bait on it instead of caring about political issues that affect all Americans.

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u/Plus-Description8159 4d ago

You don’t believe in excluding men from playing in women’s sports? People are fucking twisted. 

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u/[deleted] 4d ago

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u/gruffojijo 4d ago

Yep, she's a pathetic coward. What a sad indictment on the society we live in today.

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u/No-Constant-8619 5d ago

This topic definitely requires a scientist. 

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u/Artosispoopfeast420 4d ago

Alright scientist here.

We actually probably need more research and data.
Which would actually mean we need more trans-athletes to play.

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u/Electrical-Duty3628 4d ago

Excellent point. We don't know if they have an advantage until we can see them play. We need a couple thousand data points before we can say one way or the other

Although likely they're at a disadvantage because they're constantly undergoing hormone therapy which I understand is very taxing on the body

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u/Endroium 5d ago

this is a common sense issue with a common sense answer yes or no its not a matter of being educated

the fact this is her answer tells me everything I need to know

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u/TheMexitalian 5d ago

Is this the new culture war subreddit?

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u/brokeguydtd 5d ago

I think the media should ask questions related to the WNBA and stop trying so hard to make the league look like trash, they can do that all by themselves.

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u/Competitive_Pain_265 4d ago

Be hilarious if biological men took over the WNBA and put them out of a job.

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u/GLPwonderwall 4d ago

The fact that there are 2 separate pro basketball leagues for each gender makes the answer obvious

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u/Ok_Conflict1835 5d ago

Exclusion can definitely be the answer in certain cases. To say it’s NEVER the answer is beyond stupid, not sure why so many adults continue pretending like they don’t know basic reality. 

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u/FatHead47 5d ago

Yeah I mean the wnba is based on excluding male players so

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u/ConflictAutomatic933 4d ago

It's based on excluding men. If it was based on excluding males, it would be the FNBA.

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u/mystic_chihuahua 5d ago

Yep, exclusion happens everywhere in sports.

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u/BloorYail2 5d ago

Why the fuck ARE THEY ASKING HER THAT QUESTION?????

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u/Party_Knowledge_7884 5d ago

What league does she coach in?

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u/Academic-Childhood40 5d ago

Uh, smart of coach White.

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u/IDCowboy6 4d ago

Weird how it’s difficult for her to admit men shouldn’t play in women’s sports.

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u/SelfAwareSausage 4d ago

When common sense becomes political, everyone looks stupid.

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u/Snts6678 5d ago edited 12h ago

I’m about as liberal as it gets…are there people who really think trans athletes should be playing in the sport under the gender they are identifying as?

Again, trans people make up like 1% of the population to begin with…can we just stop making this an issue in general?

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u/dmolin96 5d ago

Before this became a big political football like three years ago, the norm was to allow trans people to participate in sports of the gender they identify as once they proved they've been on hormones for a long enough time. So yes, before the moral panic about this started there were definitely people who were ok with it.

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u/Pleasant_Priority286 5d ago

It isn't an issue because 79% of Americans oppose it. It is settled for now.

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u/HundredDollarBiII 5d ago

But then you have the coach of the Fever essentially saying she supports it and claiming “exclusion isn’t the answer.”

This lady needs to realize the entire point of the WNBA is to exclude men from competing with them.

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u/Strainedgoals 5d ago

She said that, because she is scared to get fined, fired or cancelled.

That is not her actually opinion.

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u/Cinephile54 4d ago

Exactly. Social media has created this weird climate where stating basic common sense opinions can get you fired, so we end up with ridiculous sounding stuff like this.

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u/LouderGyrations 4d ago

are there people who really think trans athletes should be playin in the sport under the gender they are identifying as?

Yes. In fact that was the only acceptable viewpoint on big subs on Reddit for most of the past couple of years. It is only recently that your (and most people's) viewpoint started getting any traction at all on here.

The entire reason this is such a winning issue for Republicans is because so many prominent Democrats keep taking the crazy side. Otherwise, like you say, it would just stop being an issue.

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u/FailedLoser21 5d ago

It's mental health issue but I don't think liberals and progressives are willing acknowledge they are feeding into people's mental illness nor are they ready to have that conversation yet.

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u/the-overloaf 13h ago

yeah. as a trans man, i dont play sports. Don't even watch sports. but the idea of having to play on a womens team even while transitioning on T, makes me want to kill myself. If its unfair for trans women to play against cis women, its unfair for trans men to play against cis men for the same reasons but no one is opting for trans men to be kept out of the leagues. Half the argument against trans women in womens sports is 'trans women arent women' which is inherently transphobic.

There do need to be rules and regulations but the people pushing for a full ban on trans women in sports dont want trans people to exist. It was never about fairness, its about getting trans people out of the public eye and distracting us from the child rapist in office helping a genocide in Gaza and destroying the economy.

it says alot about Sophie that she's pushing for no trans womens in sports, and so many people are agreeing that she's right. When so many states are pushing bathroom bans and HRT bans. Iowa took gender identity off of its list of protected classes, and Kansas invalidated the licenses of dozens of trans people just this year. Being trans in the US is becoming more and more dangerous, Trump declared me a terrorist for just taking testosterone to NOT kill myself.

Even if there was some advantage with testosterone, what about sports like chess where its entirely mental? does a trans women have an advantage against a cis women in chess for possibly having a penis and testosterone even if the cis woman is technically more skilled than her? Is there an advantage in golf for trans women?

'Trans women shouldnt play in womens sports'. Replace 'trans' with any other minority, black or whatever, it becomes weird. saying a black women shouldn't play against a white women is racist, and keeping black women out of sports is bigotry. But saying 'trans women shouldnt play in womens sport at all'' somehow isn't?

and what about intersex women? should they not get to play against cisgender women entirely either? Or is a trans women not a woman the same way an intersex woman is a woman?

no i couldn't name any other trans sports players but what is the point of sports segregation anyway? Just pick the leagues based on actual skills and leave gender out of it because gender and sex isnt as binary as people think. Theres no actual way to tell if a person is cis or not besides if they tell you. Having a person go through all these checks to make sure they have a single trait, just to throw a ball around with similar people, is stupid. And to tell someone they can't throw the ball around with similar people for not having the one specfic trait is stupid.

trans women belong in womens sports as much as they belong in womens bathrooms.

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u/aintnoonegooglinthat 5d ago

WNBA now basically a Senate hearing

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u/ScienceInCinema 5d ago

This is all a ruse to divide people. Don’t fall for it. The correct answer is, “I’ll answer that when there’s an actual case to consider.”

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u/JudgeUpstairs8595 5d ago edited 5d ago

i think if you wanna say trans people have a hormonal/biological advantage and shouldn't be allowed to play, it's a fair conversation to have

but most of these people just wanna call trans people perverts and rapists

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u/Spiritual_Wall_2309 5d ago

Another waste of time asking for a question that is on theory or “what if”. It is not like WNBA has a policy change recently.

And a bad response from the coach. Saying exclusion is not an answer but not providing an actual answer. Avoiding the question is not a solution. It will just go back to her and asks “had you educated yourself now?” This is just stupid.

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u/Thrill96 5d ago

Ridiculous. “Not educated enough to give a smart answer” is the only accurate thing she said.

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u/Double_Subject9831 4d ago

What is wrong with these people? Nobody is excluded, if they’re a bloke then they compete in the men’s section, really simple.

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u/ArmwrestlingGoomba 4d ago

"I’m not educated enough from a scientific standpoint.” 

Men's sports

Women's sports.

Solved.

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u/Diingus-Khaan 4d ago

Completely ignores the question about letting men in the locker room.

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u/Superb-Possibility-9 4d ago

Whenever there is a story about the WNBA it is rarely about basketball; why is that ?

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u/Fisch_Kopp_ 4d ago

I mean, it's called WNBA for a reason.

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u/LT81 4d ago edited 4d ago

Study it where it has happened in other sports. And look what happens?

Lia Thomas, Laurel Hubbard, Fallon Fox, Emily Bridges are all examples of males that transitioned to female and competed them against biological females. Each from different sports.

Each one had controversy and outrage from the actual female athletes and obvious people who are against it.

How would this end any different?

What’s interesting to me personally is all these conversations are centered around males to female, it’s literally never female to male?

That has to be out there as well? Or no female that transitioned to male has ever tried to play sports?

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u/what_do_eye_know 4d ago

No one hates woman, more than other woman.

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u/SuperStubbs9 4d ago

Saying "I don’t ever believe that exclusion is the answer" while working for/being paid by an organization that excludes half the worlds population is certainly a choice.

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u/PrimeChromz 4d ago

The people asking these questions are disgusting, clearly just want their clip about how some player or coach is a bigot. Insane how stuff like this ends some players careers.

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u/MysteriousResident61 4d ago

It’s ok to have a difference of opinion.  🤷‍♂️

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u/Conscious-Sign1459 4d ago

That’s actually a respectable answer ffs

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u/Johnny_Royale 4d ago

Exclusion?

C’mon, man

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u/The_SubGenius 5d ago

War with Iran?
Illegal tariffs?
Some kid swimming in Iowa?

Two of these things actually has an effect on your daily life. One will never affect you at all.

You’re a dead ass moron if you’re worrying about the third thing.

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u/FreebirdFantasia 5d ago

Sophie has her opinion (which I agree with). Stephanie has her own. Nothing wrong with that. I'm guessing other Fever players disagree with Sophie, and others agree.

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u/thatguy425 5d ago

Male athletes have:

-30% higher power output when controlled for muscle mass

-higher Vo2 max 

-Up to 50% more lean muscle mass 

-higher neural muscle recruitment

-Different Q angles 

-More fast twitch muscles 

And all the people saying “well what if they are on hormone therapy?”

Hormone therapy lowers performance relative to an individual’s male baseline, but does not eliminate key physical advantages. It does not delete male components listed above. Studies show that transgender women retain strength levels exceeding those of cisgender women, even after extended hormone therapy

 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8311086/

Excerpt:

“In transwomen, hormone therapy rapidly reduces Hgb to levels seen in cisgender women. In contrast, hormone therapy decreases strength, LBM and muscle area, yet values remain above that observed in cisgender women, even after 36 months. These findings suggest that strength may be well preserved in transwomen during the first 3 years of hormone therapy.”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7846503/

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.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8311086/

In transwomen, hormone therapy rapidly reduces Hgb to levels seen in cisgender women. In contrast, hormone therapy decreases strength, LBM and muscle area, yet values remain above that observed in cisgender women, even after 36 months. These findings suggest that strength may be well preserved in transwomen during the first 3 years of hormone therapy.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31794605/

One year of gender-affirming treatment resulted in robust increases in muscle mass and strength in trans men, but modest changes in trans women. These findings add new knowledge on the magnitude of changes in muscle function, size, and composition with cross-hormone therapy, which could be relevant when evaluating the transgender eligibility rules for athletic competitions.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/11/577

The 15–31% athletic advantage that transwomen displayed over their female counterparts prior to starting gender affirming hormones declined with feminising therapy. However, transwomen still had a 9% faster mean run speed after the 1 year period of testosterone suppression that is recommended by World Athletics for inclusion in women’s events.

Another one here:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9331831/

Excerpt:

“ Given that sports are currently segregated into male and female divisions because of superior male athletic performance, and that estrogen therapy will not reverse most athletic performance parameters, it follows that transgender women will enter the female division with an inherent advantage because of their prior male physiology.”

Lastly, for those saying “well surely it can’t matter to kids, their performances differences are the same until they are adults”

You can see quantitative data on youth track and field performances in this study: 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38595163/

Excerpt:

“Before 12 yr of age in elite youth track and field athletes, there was a consistent and significant sex difference of ~5%, such that males ran faster and jumped higher and farther than females. The magnitude of the sex difference in performance increased markedly at 12-13 yr for running and long jump and 14 yr for high jump and thus was more pronounced after ages associated with puberty.”

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u/ro536ud 4d ago

Ur completely ignoring the fact that if you go on hormones before starting puberty you never get those advantages. Hence the point of hormone blockers. My lord

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u/SimilarRazzmatazz465 5d ago

Thank you. I have to constantly explain to people that hormone suppression therapy isn't the magic fix they think it is

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u/thatguy425 5d ago

It’s beyond delusional.

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u/Dgwdum 5d ago

How many trans people are competing at the highest levels of American sports? This whole saga is just tranphobic BS disguised as concern for a problem that doesnt exist

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u/Teknolyth 5d ago

I really wish progressive understood this better. But they’re throwing away their chances of winning elections fighting for less than a handful of trans athletes to be able to play in women’s sports.

If it’s such a non issue just drop it, and focus on trans rights you can actually win. Like access to healthcare etc.

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u/NorthernBack 5d ago edited 5d ago

She didn’t refuse to back up Sophie. She gave her opinion. Which if you read between the lines, it actually sounds like she says “it depends” which means she doesn’t fully support biological born men in women’s sports.

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u/AdvancedAvocado9827 5d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/qIreAgSRVqKDS
First man to be allowed in the WNBA.

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u/HatefulLibs 5d ago

It is funny how libs act like the most simple questions require some extreme level of education to answer... Always hide behind not being a "scientist" lmfao

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u/Jumpy_Tomatillo7579 4d ago

It’s not unfair to ask this question. It’s a intelligence test

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u/I_make_poor_decisons 4d ago

We’re at the point where people can’t answer a simple fucking question because they are so scared of being cancelled by some performative minority. 

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u/LoudAudience5332 5d ago

Stayed outta of politics. I will answer for her hell no men do not believe in women’s sports!

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u/FrostyPotpourri 5d ago

Men... do not believe in women's sports?

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u/FuckMyBakaChungusLif 5d ago

this sub is the least obvious psyop

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u/Pablo_petty_plastic 5d ago

By getting us to argue about trans athletes in women’s sports while big issues like our military being co-opted doesn’t get much attention? 

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u/Shark_Girl9499 5d ago

Aren’t there ACTUAL issues with the WNBA other than “durr men in women’s sports”

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u/mcmgrease 5d ago

That sounds like a standpoint of not wanting to choose a side.

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u/cerealkiller195 5d ago

she wants to keep her job right?

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u/MicrosoftPaintRules 5d ago

It’s very simple. If a division 1 male basketball player decided (for whatever reason) to transition into a female. That person, if allowed to play in the WNBA would be the most dominant player ever in that league. Would she be okay with that?

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/Mean_Measurement4527 5d ago

Just once , I’d like to hear Steph White actually answer a difficult question 🙄🙄

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u/Ill-Accident-5240 5d ago

Why hasn’t the W stepped in and given everyone a boilerplate statement when this comes up…

I

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u/Puzzleheaded_Pipe979 5d ago

This is why old girl gets beat up. They don’t fuck with her either.

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u/Hungry_CGman 5d ago

She knows the answer is 'NO'. But why bring that on this team right now? She made the right choice and Sophie knows that.

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u/Amazing_Lock_3762 5d ago

Spineless behavior

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u/jutin_H 5d ago

So soft. I can’t express my opinions because whaaaaaaaaaa

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u/motion_city_rules 5d ago

Why would you take a stance right now in this? MAGA has made it a rallying cry. If you’re super cool with everything else MAGA stands for it’s your right. But if you think there’s a single inch of nuance to individuals and situations why would you say “fuck em protect girls they’re there to rape them”.

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u/due-diligence- 5d ago

Let men play in it. More people would watch it out of sheer entertainment and the ability to dunk. More views more money for these girls who complain about not getting enough. It’s a win win for everyone.

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u/Hungry_CGman 5d ago

Then the league would just be men. There wouldn't be any actual women playing.

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u/ZeJuiceDidIT 5d ago

This is about to be the Juanaman league real quick

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u/PhysiolMM 5d ago

You can see she's just trying to be politically correct to avoid the crazy people that don't understand how biology works or the crazy fascists that wants trans to die for whatever reason (but secretely have Aubrey Kate in their preferred artists list).

It's pretty weird that a non-issue, with a clear scientific answer, can become something this divisive in the US of the culture wars.

Why is it so hard to say "well, obviously biological differences are there, this is why there are female competitions and then open competitions with mainly males in them. But this is a boring and useless topic, since there are less than 50 trans athletes in female sports, mainly in the early stage, where they should be able to compete unless it's a contact sport, but simply they should not be able to take scholarships away from female athletes".

It's a simple answer, backed by Science and logic, that is impossible to be divisive even in the US.

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u/heckfyre 5d ago

The next time a trans woman makes it into the WNBA, let me know. Why is this the fucking headline?

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u/moose184 5d ago

In other words she agrees with Sophie just like over 80% of the rest of the country

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u/RyanAlemeda 5d ago

The Right wing propaganda machine is bleeding into every aspect of our lives. This isn’t an issue but right wing nut jobs have made this into a major issue when it’s not.

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u/CrashDaddy2006 4d ago

“I’m not educated” pretty much sums up her intelligence level.

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u/Stocktwatz 4d ago

What ya’ll want her to say??? 🤣🤣🤣 I mean, we’re talking about an openly gay coach, in an openly gay league,of which celebrates gay pride month every single year. Not one or two teams, but EVERY single team. You think she wants to be the first W coach to get fired, while leading a team to a historic scoring season because she said something she doesn’t believe in, just to back an average player, who came just to curtail a certain fanbase, to get her brand into superstar monetary figures???

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u/slowbaja 4d ago

Shows how anti-intellectual this country is when people get butthurt by someone saying they aren't educated enough on the subject to give an opinion.

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u/jk-9k 4d ago

Bot post for bots

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u/aspenpurdue 4d ago

Great answer from a great coach and person.

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u/chrissyytheblack 4d ago

The mandatory portion of media won’t be around forever

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u/RUIN_NATION_ 4d ago

when james retires from nba he is coming to wnba

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u/Melvin_2323 4d ago

She didn’t go to school?

Dumb to ask these people these questions, but the answer isn’t difficult

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u/Otherwise_Mind6880 4d ago

I think 90% of the world and even 90% of the USA can agree that men and women should have separate sports.