On Monday, for the second time in the past month, the WNBA had to apologize to female ticketholders who showed up at games sporting XX-XY shirts in support of Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham’s comments that biological males shouldn’t compete against female athletes by identifying as transgender women.
At Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Dream and the visiting Fever, the Dream’s security officers told Kasey Thomason and her 17-year-old daughter, Annie, that they had to either cover their XX-XY Athletics shirts or leave the stadium.
After public backlash, the Dream issued a statement Monday, in which it blamed WNBA security for wrongly accosting the two fans and quoted an apology by the league:
“The Atlanta Dream believes in creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. Unfortunately, at last night’s game, WNBA security took actions that fell short of that standard. At no point was Dream personnel involved in the decisions made by WNBA security. The league issued this statement earlier today:
“‘The WNBA is aware of interactions at last night’s game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts. This should not have happened.’”
“It’s common sense people. Like, that’s all we’re asking for,” Kasey Thomason told Fox News Channel Host Laura Ingraham, acknowledging biological reality and reacting to the apology.
A mere apology isn’t enough to prevent similar incidents going forward, however, Annie Thomason said:
“It’s 100% going to happen again until people actually do something about it.”
The incident is just the latest scandal involving the WNBA’s reproach of fans who don’t think biological males should compete against biological females, as Fox News recalled Monday:
“Less than three weeks ago, Seattle Storm minority co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted two teenage girls wearing XX-XY Athletics gear and supporting Cunningham at a Fever-Storm game. The Storm subsequently apologized, and the WNBA fined Keaton an undisclosed amount and suspended her from attending five home games. Now, another mother and teenage daughter backing the same cause were confronted at a WNBA game — this time by league security.
“Kasey said she believed a nearby fan wearing a ‘Protect Trans Rights’ shirt had complained.”
"Common sense people, that's all we're asking for."
Kasey Thomason reacts after she and Annie Thomason say they were told to cover up their "XX/XY" shirts at a WNBA game in Atlanta following complaints from other fans.
The WNBA now says the fans should not have been asked to… pic.twitter.com/unvIxx9t2q— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 18, 2026
Rallies supporting Cunningham have sprung up at WNBA games since last month’s ESPN profile quoted her saying she was opposed to biological males competing in girls' and women's sports:
“And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."
What her media and activist critics tend to ignore are her comments leading up to that quote:
"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, ‘I never once said that.’
"I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest.”
