WNBA Says Fans Should Have Been Free to Wear Transgender Messaging Shirts

The WNBA acknowledged Monday that fans should not have been asked by league security to cover up shirts with messaging about transgender issues during Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Dream and the Indiana Fever at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. At least three fans were approached by WNBA security personnel and asked to cover shirts bearing messages related to transgender women participating in women’s sports, according to AP News.

“The WNBA is aware of interactions at (Sunday) night’s game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts,” the league said in a statement. “This should not have happened.”

The league has informed the security workers from the Atlanta game that they were wrong to ask that the messages be covered up. Two fans wore shirts from XX-XY Athletics, a brand that calls for women’s and girls’ sports to be restricted to those assigned female at birth, while one person was wearing a shirt in support of transgender people.

The Incident in Atlanta

Kasey Thomason and her daughter Annie, from Georgia, were identified as two of the fans who were made to cover their XX-XY shirts with Dream-provided shirts during overtime. Video captured inside State Farm Arena and posted on social media shows the mother and daughter covering up their shirts, according to USA Today.

“We were made to cover up our XX-XY shirts at this game. They gave us T-shirts during overtime and told us we had to leave or cover our shirts up,” Kasey Thomason said. “We did nothing. We were just sitting there. I didn’t make signs — I wanted to make signs, but I didn’t. I did nothing.”

Additional incidents occurred during the game as well. A fan wearing a “Protect Trans Kids” shirt was briefly shown on the State Farm Arena video board, while another person wearing a “Trans kids belong in sports” shirt was shown during the TV broadcast, as The Athletic reported.

The Atlanta Dream quickly distanced itself from the security personnel’s actions. “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,” the team said in a statement. “At no point were Dream personnel involved in the decisions made by WNBA security.”

A League at the Center of a Cultural Debate

The shirt incident is the latest flashpoint in a broader controversy that has engulfed the WNBA over the past month, centered on the question of transgender women participating in women’s sports. The league’s collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth. There has never been a transgender woman on a WNBA roster.

The debate intensified after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that she wanted to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” Cunningham later doubled down on her comments, saying “I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” as CBS Sports reported.

Her stance sparked small rallies and protests outside Fever games in Seattle and Portland, and the controversy has drawn reactions from across the political spectrum. Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a shirt reading “Trans Kids Belong” during a game against Indiana, saying “We need to protect trans kids. To me, it’s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports.”

The Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) released a statement on August 7 denouncing transphobia and other forms of hate, emphasizing diversity and inclusion while saying the organization “will not be used as political pawns,” as ESPN reported.

Prior Fan Incidents

Sunday’s shirt incident is not the first time fan conduct has become a point of controversy in the WNBA this season. On July 28, Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted two teenage fans wearing XX-XY shirts at a Fever-Storm game in Seattle, directing expletives at them. The WNBA suspended Keaton from attending the Storm’s next five home games and fined the team an undisclosed amount.

Days later, on July 31, a Portland Fire season-ticket holder reported being spat on and subjected to homophobic and transphobic slurs during a Fire-Fever game at the Moda Center, including “there’s too many lesbians around” and “set trans on fire.” Portland police investigated the incident as a potential bias crime, according to Front Office Sports.

XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey suggested the league’s efforts to manage the situation have only amplified the controversy. “The story of the groundswell of support for the protection of women’s sports” gets bigger “the more the WNBA, the stadiums and the teams try to censor” it, Sey told Front Office Sports. The brand, founded by former elite gymnast and former Levi Strauss chief marketing officer Jennifer Sey, has seen its business surge amid the controversy, with sales increasing sixfold over a two-week period.

League Deliberations and Policy Vacuum

The WNBA has been actively deliberating on how to address the transgender athlete question. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to team presidents and general managers on August 9 saying the league would discuss the subject of transgender women in women’s basketball. On August 12, the league’s anti-hate task force met virtually to discuss transgender athletes and social media vitriol.

Following that meeting, the league issued a statement saying “There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others,” as AP News reported.

The situation has been further complicated by former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White declaring themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft, saying they identify as women — a move widely seen as an attempt to force the league to clarify its eligibility policy.

What’s Next

The WNBA’s acknowledgment that fans should have been free to wear their shirts addresses the immediate incident but leaves the underlying questions unresolved. The league faces the challenge of navigating a deeply polarized cultural moment while maintaining its commitment to both free expression at games and an inclusive environment for all fans.

With the league’s anti-hate task force continuing its work and Commissioner Engelbert signaling ongoing discussions with stakeholders, the WNBA appears to be taking a measured approach. But the series of fan-related incidents this season — from the Keaton confrontation to the Portland bias crime allegation to Sunday’s shirt episode — suggests the league is struggling to manage fan conduct in a highly charged environment.

As the WNBA continues its deliberations, the broader national conversation about transgender participation in sports shows no signs of abating. The league’s next steps will be closely watched by advocates on all sides of the issue, as well as by the fans who simply want to enjoy the game without controversy.