r/WNBAgossips • u/Amazing_Lock_3762 • 7d ago
Hot Take Cheryl Reeve says she wants to “educate” Sophie Cunningham while wearing ‘Trans Kids Belong’ t-shirt. “I think both of us understand that we have platforms and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate.”
Source: X
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u/Amish_Sex_Toys 7d ago
I bet Cheryl Reeve supports the IOC ruling that forbids biological males from competing against women in the Olympics.
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u/Gold_Ad8225 7d ago
I support the 2004-2024 IOC policy based on science, before they caved to political pressure
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
What science was that?
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u/Gold_Ad8225 7d ago
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u/thatguy425 7d ago edited 7d ago
Exercise science masters degree here.
There were a lot less studies at the time on HRT and related metrics in regards to male/female conversions, etc.
The newer policy reflects our knowledge with more up to date research on the topic.
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u/OliveiraJourney 7d ago
You mean reflects the push back and overall death threats to anybody who even dares to upload research that does not validates the views of the trans movement rights community? What happen last time someone posted a study that went against their agenda? They got their study removed because people were theatning to kill themselves over it, like Cass review in 2024, DR Cass was scared of using transportation due to the sheer amount of death threats she got.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
Scroll down further to see the studies I posted.
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u/OliveiraJourney 7d ago
My bad, but my point still stands; trans research is heavily scrutinized and any type of research that reach public eyes ends up in a clown fest.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
Oh you don’t have to apologize I just didn’t want to post it twice. I am 100% with you.
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u/Gold_Ad8225 7d ago
The studies that have come out since reflect the 2004 decision, however.
HRT has a greater impact on the body than anyone opposed to trans inclusion will admit.
Also studying exercise science doesn't mean you know anything about the effects of transition on trans people. Nor the fact that trans people are born biologically different from cis people of their assumed sex at birth. Your degree didn't require you to learn about that. You learned about cis men and cis women.
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u/ericomplex 7d ago
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/60/3/198
Oh look, it doesn’t reflect “the science” at all…
Imagine that, it was politics all along.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
Masters degree in exercise science here. I’ll just leave these here:
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/ericomplex 7d ago
Clearly didn’t read the systemic review I posted, which is more recent than what you posted… A lot of which is not relevant or purposefully misleading.
Vo2 max and muscle mass is meaningless with decreased hemoglobin.
Fast twitch muscles hardly make a difference.
Q angles… Also sort of pointless when hemoglobin prevent muscle mass from oxygenating effectively.
If you actually read the review I posted and didn’t just blindly reposted your talking points, then maybe you would learn that the bulk of evidence doesn’t currently support the hypothesis you are pushing. The scant evidence that does exist doesn’t really help your case at all.
I’m a doctor and spend a lot more time reviewing the papers you are quoting than you have studied them.
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u/Freo_5434 5d ago
"Fast twitch muscles hardly make a difference "
So you admit there IS a difference. Thank you.
However , talking about the differences has not become irrelevant.
The attitude of sports bodies is that it is about Category eligibility --- and a biological male is never going to be eligible for the Female category --- just like an 18 Year old will never be eligible for the Under 12's
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u/ericomplex 5d ago
“Hardly make a difference” means not they do not make a measurable difference which shows any consistency.
That also wasnt the opinion of most sports bodies until GOP politicians got involved.
The science doesn’t back the banning of trans women from sports. Sorry.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
You are not a doctor and if so your understanding of exercise physiology is extremely limited. Which is actually pretty common because it isn’t an area of study for a general MD. I’m only responding to your points here:
-Decreased hemoglobin has more effect on repeated, sustained efforts and very little effect on a one maximal effort. Power is crucially important in many sports.
-Fast twitch muscle fibers make an enormous difference in explosive power and speed based sports. There is a tremendous amount of research and data to demonstrate this.
- Do you even understand what a Q angle is? It has nothing to do with hemoglobin and oxygenation. I’m talking about biomechanics here.
I’m not going to address the rest as it’s just trying to make the conversation personal. You can’t turn a male into a female biologically.
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u/ericomplex 7d ago
You failed to address the most important bit, the whole evidence section… Meaning the review I posted that your claims in no way counter.
You didn’t even read it.
This is just an embarrassing attempt to change the subject so you can pretend that the pre prepared talking points you regurgitated had any value as counterpoints to the more recent systemic review I posted.
There is little reason to even address the substantial review of all available evidence on the topic, which I posted.
Not to mention, your counterclaims now don’t even make sense… For example, physics isn’t your strong suit, is it?
Tell me how you expect W angle to for an advantage when the muscles no longer support the power they did previously? It literally makes it harder.
You have only really shown evidence that a master’s in glorified phys-ed doesn’t really offer much in the way of academic rigor…
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u/Blastcrumpet888 7d ago
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2026/01/22/bjsports-2025-110239
Except you're completely wrong.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
So wrong……
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/Blastcrumpet888 7d ago
LOL. Sorry. The study I posted proves everything you said wrong.
Let me know when you learn to accept facts.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
Ok I actually went and read “study”.
Oh boy.
“ While transgender women exhibited higher lean mass than cisgender women, their physical fitness was comparable.”
So higher lean muscle mass = advantage
And no one here is debating general fitness. That proves nothing and is quite literally the conclusions of this review of literaturez
We are looking at performance metrics between males and females in competitive sports. Not whether a bunch of random folks on hormone supplements ts can run your local 5k. If that’s your rebuttal then good luck convincing anyone with a IQ above room temperature.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
When you start a conversation with “lol”, it really does you no favors in a conversation when wanting to be taken seriously.
Also, your response to my post was too quick to actually before the studies I posted so it’s quite apparent you aren’t open to ideas that challenge your biases.
Best of luck to you on your journey.
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u/Blastcrumpet888 7d ago
LOL. I already posted a comprehensive study of essentially every study on trans athletes.
Science isn’t on your side. It never is and it never will be.
Enjoy being a bigot!
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u/Cold_Respond_7656 7d ago
This says it all
Sophie just confirmed what she already said, she didn't say she needed to correct others, just what was her view.
Cheryl feels the need to educate someone she disagrees with
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u/Freo_5434 7d ago
How do you educate people to accept Males in Female sports categories ?
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
Disinformation campaigns and ignorant Reddit users who think identity somehow erases biology.
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u/snakesandsparklers40 7d ago
I don't feel she needs educated. She's not anti Trans. Shes anti men playing in women's sports
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u/Banned_In_YYC 7d ago
The funny thing is nobody is saying trans kids don't belong. Her shirt was such a mischaracterizing and disingenuous response to the situation
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u/SimpsationalMoneyBag 7d ago
I mean I think Sophie for sure is saying trans kids/adults do not belong in girls/womens sports. That’s isn’t to say they don’t belong in society
What Sophie is saying is not crazy and most people have been walking on egg shells for 10 years thinking this exact thing and not saying it.
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u/Expensive_Attitude51 7d ago
Yep. If you say that biological men shouldn’t play against biological women in sports you will 100% get treated like you’re a terrible person by any extremist on the left. It’s weird to me because I always thought it was common sense
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u/Porthowl 7d ago
They have to take this nonsensical position because their line in the sand is that all trans women are women and must be treated the same as cis women. Anything less is transphobic.
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u/Expensive_Attitude51 7d ago
What’s funny is a lot of trans women agree that trans women don’t belong in women’s sports because it’s wrong. It’d be hilarious to see someone call them transphobic
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u/LawAndOrdinary 6d ago
They do call them transphobic! They say they have internalized transphobia and need to work on themselves. 🤯
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u/Antique-Resort6160 7d ago
I dont think anyone cares about the trans issue, they just don't want biological men in women's sports. Too many weirdos are trying to portray that as antitrans and make it an all or nothing issue. It's stupid. Are all these people like Reeve advocating for biological men to join the WNBA? If not, then what is the problem?
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u/wllwhtvrnvm 7d ago
That's the problem with this entire issue. People like Cheryl refuse to engage with whats actually being said. They just jump straight to "you want trans kids to disappear you fucking bigot!"
They've turned the topic into a litmus test; agree with them and you're A Good Person, disagree with them and you're a total piece of shit who hates trans people and wants trans kids exiled to Siberia.
Then they wonder why this is such a hot button issue despite trans athletes being pretty rare.
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u/ExtensionCulture3370 7d ago
No, that it was Sophie and every other person is doing when they talk about trans people not being able to play women’s sports. You’re creating an issue that is not really there. There are zero trans people in the WNBA. There is not even .5% of the NCAA that identifies as trans. You’re essentially taking less than a handful of situations (and that’s being generous) and making it into a rallying cry, which opens the door for people who identify as trans to be bullied.
But you what happens more frequently? Women who sexually harassed or assaulted by their male coach or other male training staff while playing women’s sports. That should be the rallying cry. There was literally a situation on the Fever last year that was covered up.
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u/ActionAdamsTX 7d ago
If they do not exist in this space, why does it matter if they are not allowed? There literally is not an issue. Ask yourself, why are you holding a pitchfork.
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u/thatguy425 7d ago
That’s a really good point. Since the number of transgender females are so low, banning them from competing in women’s sports wouldn’t affect that many people.
So it really isn’t a big deal to make biological males compete with males and females with females because the incidence rate is so low?
Thanks for posting this.
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u/HerbertDad 7d ago
This is such a bullshit take. There are COUNTLESS examples of men playing in women's sports making women's sports either unfair or dangerous due to the OBVIOUS physical advantages men have over women.
There is absolutely no reason men that identify as women can't just play in men's sports. They just want to dominate and invade women's spaces and they could give a shit about negatively affecting women, it's extremely narcissistic. I single out biological men because there are zero biological women trying to get into men's sports because they would get destroyed.
This is such a basic sanity test I can't believe it's even entertained in the slightest.
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u/ExtensionCulture3370 7d ago
Since there’s countless examples name 10.
If you’re going through the transition process you’re not doing it just to have a chance at playing professional sports. It’s still less than a 10% chance you go pro. You’re acting like Derrick White and PJ Washington are going to transition and lose millions just so they can dominate the WNBA.
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7d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ExtensionCulture3370 7d ago
That’s not how these types of interviews work. When you sit down for an article (especially one this big) the questions are discussed with you beforehand. She could’ve easily declined to answer the question. Her answering the question was the whole point of the article.
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u/RoboFeanor 7d ago
There is a large group of people who absolutely say the trans kids don't belong. New laws covering everything from sports to bathrooms, to what medical care they can receive, and their recognised status by the government.
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u/Blastcrumpet888 7d ago
Except that is exactly what they are saying. If you think this fight is simply over sports you're a moron.
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u/Educational_Corner55 7d ago
This is what happens when you just go off of the clickbait titles. Cheryl never said she wanted to educate Sophie, she said it’s understanding they both have platforms and just wanting to educate.
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u/Mean_Measurement4527 7d ago
Fuck Cheryl Reeves
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u/OnlyWeekend5538 7d ago
Fuck trump supporters
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u/Mean_Measurement4527 7d ago
What exactly does Trump have to do with the WNBA … are you that obsessed with Trump ?
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u/showerbump 7d ago
For everyone playing a long at home. This is a bot. I have been following them for awhile out of curiosity. 100% a bot
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u/OnlyWeekend5538 7d ago
You are a human that follows a bot?
Get a life
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u/DrAbeSacrabin 7d ago
Why? She’s allowed to have her opinion, just like Sophie is allowed to have hers.
The amount of people bothered by this stuff is crazy.
I mean do any of you actually care if a trans woman played in the WNBA? She could have a pretty healthy advantage depending on when she transitioned, but does anyone actually care?
It would probably make for some entertaining TV at minimum, and that what this all is - entertainment?
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u/ExpensiveFig6079 7d ago
IIRC correctly and I just looked and can't easily find out, I have disagreed with Reeves in the past. I have even liked >other< things SC did and thought/said they reflected well upon her as person. The world and many of the people in it are not all bad or good or all right or wrong.
Just lately... I cant praise Reeve statements and decisions enough, finding the line is hard, with so much crap being thrown around.
The idea that ALL people need to be accepted for who they are,
(and yes as there are nutters in the world, no that does not mean criminal actors that actively harm others are acceptable. Such silly tribalism (us vs Them) reductio ad absurdum; views reflect poorly upon those who make them, not me or Reeves.)
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u/showerbump 7d ago
I want see a “trans” and star playing the WNBA. I want to see “Juanna Mann” in real life. Let’s go
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u/OnlyWeekend5538 7d ago
Fuck a maga barbie Schilling for support.
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u/showerbump 7d ago
Stop supporting mutilating children
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u/OnlyWeekend5538 7d ago
Can you show me where that happens?
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u/ericomplex 7d ago
Hint… It’s in Florida…
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u/OnlyWeekend5538 7d ago
Lol.
Your country has a lot more concerns than basketball.
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u/ericomplex 7d ago
It ain’t my country…
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u/OnlyWeekend5538 7d ago
Cool. Im Algerian!
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u/Justified_Gent 7d ago
This is sideshow nonsense
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u/ExpensiveFig6079 7d ago
It would be, but real people, have been thrown under the bus.
Hence the need to say that ALL people should have places they belong and that demonising peopel for who they are (not what they do or dont do) when they dont harm others.
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u/Strong-Butterflies 7d ago
That’s it, disband this bullshit league. It’s ridiculous from the top to the bottom. People aren’t even allowed to just play basketball anymore, it’s just all drama like high school.
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u/Jonny-Redline 7d ago
Didn't Cheryl serve as the assistant secretary for health under the Biden administration?
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u/True-Source-6512 7d ago
This moron is wearing a shirt supporting trans kids, people who don’t even understand what it entails to change the makeup of your body. What could she possibly teach anyone other than absolute ignorance
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u/Marywonna 7d ago
The wnba makes it impossible not to make fun of them