A line of rallygoers hold signs supporting trans rights and inclusion in sports outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.Photo by Alex Nguyen
As women’s sports continue to be used as a battleground over trans rights, hundreds of people attended a rally before a New York Liberty game Saturday to support transgender people in sports and everyday communities.
Chants of “Get up, get down! We love trans people in this town!” were commonplace, as well as signs reading “trans people belong here,” “equality means inclusivity,” and “ban bigots not trans women.” The gathering came amid discussion across the basketball league—and largely right-wing, bad-faith actors—of restricting athletes who are transgender women from participating in women’s sports, even as no openly trans women play in the WNBA.
Much of the recent debate around trans inclusivity in the WNBA came in a July ESPN profile of Sophie Cunningham, who plays as a guard for the Indiana Fever, where she stated that she wants “to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” These conversations are largely held in online right-wing circles: the Daily Wire, Turning Point USA, Ben Shapiro—the list goes on.
But that rhetoric wasn’t the focus of Saturday’s rally. A non-binary lifelong New Yorker told me that the rally was “one of my first times joining a joyous trans action.” Rallygoers cheered as fans entering the arena passed by, with many applauding them back. Bubbles from a bubble blaster, groups giving out shirts and signs, and people chatting together for the first time were widespread.
Given that most of the discussion around transgender athletes in women’s sports the attendee comes across is relegated to online posts, seeing the differing reactions from fellow rallygoers and fans passing by was interesting: “It’s so rare with the circumstances around trans rights that we get to see a real thing in real life in front of our eyes.”
The US government has largely supported anti-trans attacks in sports. As my colleague Madison Pauly reported, the Supreme Court upheld Idaho and West Virginia state laws that ban transgender girls from playing on girls’ school sports teams.
Amid the inclusion debate within the WNBA, other athletes in the league have been questioned on the subject. Many, including New York Liberty power forward Breanna Stewart, have called for the WNBA to serve as a safe space for all fans and players. Stewart said that many fans come to games because “they can feel like they can be themselves in whatever capacity that is.”
And that sentiment also extended to the basketball game on Saturday. While the lifelong New Yorker rallygoer told me the result of the basketball game holds little weight on the discussion of trans rights in sports—society more broadly—a real, competitive game “is a beautiful opportunity for a tangible moment of catharsis where there is a winner and a loser.”
Kristen Blush ordered a “trans kids belong” t-shirt a couple weeks ago and was planning to go to the game with it, regardless if she was the only one celebrating. But Kristen, a New York Liberty season-ticket holder, later saw online that there would be a large gathering for trans rights and told me it was “really meaningful” that so many other folks held similar feelings of support.
Danielle, a public high school teacher and parent of a transgender child, described the gathering as “a celebration of trans life and trans joy.”
“I saw people kissing and I saw bubbles. People dancing, singing, and chanting. That’s what our movement is about,” Danielle added. “And I think we’re going to win.”
Danielle said students generally “don’t care” for anti-trans attacks and culture wars against inclusion.
“This new generation of kids understands gender and sexuality in a way that has not been seen before. They’re going to lead the way.”
The New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever 109-102 later that night.