Arizona women’s basketball coach Becky Burke announced in a June 8 post on X that her wife was pregnant.
“Burke family update,” she wrote. “Baby girl coming December, 2026!”
Burke’s triggered negative comments, one in particular by a woman who wants to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges — the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
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Katy Faust, who is the founder of the non-profit group which believes same-sex couples should not be allowed to be parents, quote tweeted Burke’s post. Faust is also a leader of another group, which bills itself as “the defenders of children,” but more simply seeks to reverse the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
On Monday, Faust used her position with both of those platforms and aimed her nearly 50,000 followers on X at Burke.
Speaking about Burke’s son and soon-to-be-born daughter, Faust wrote: “These two children will likely: Hunger for paternal love, gravitate toward coaches, and overstay their welcome at the homes of friends who have dads. Some will be so desperate for male connection that they become easy targets for predators.” She closed her lengthy quote-tweet of Burke’s post by saying, “That’s why we must #OverturnObergefell.”
Nearly one million people have viewed Burke’s initial post on X announcing her wife’s pregnancy, with more than 200 commenting or quote-tweeting it. Burke briefly made her X account private this week after her post went viral thanks to Faust quote tweet.
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Burke responded on Wednesday with a statement that began with her writing, “Our happiness isn’t yours to prove.”
“Let me be very clear. Our announcement is about something much bigger than us. Representation matters. Visibility matters. As a public figure, I take great pride in representing my community and helping create that visibility. Our announcement is for people who have spent years wondering whether a future like this was possible for them,” Burke wrote. “… I will not let hate win.”
Burke is one of just a handful of openly gay head women’s basketball coaches at the Power 4 level. Others include North Carolina’s Courtney Banghart and Iowa’s Jan Jensen.
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Several coaches around the sport, from Seton Hall’s Tony Bozzella to Arizona State associate head coach Stephanie Norman, shared support for Burke. Norman, who coached Burke when she played at Louisville wrote, “We may be rivals, but she is my player and my friend. She and Savannah are amazing parents!”
Burke is entering her second season as the head coach at Arizona. She previously was the head coach at USC Upstate, where she was the Big South Coach of the Year in 2022, and at Buffalo where she won 30 games and the WNIT in the 2024-25 season. As a player at Louisville, she helped lead Jeff Walz’s Cardinals to the 2009 Final Four — the first in the program’s history.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arizona coach Becky Burke responds after activist attacks pregnancy announcement
