Golden State Valkyries‘ Gabby Williams is positioning herself as the opposite of Sophie Cunningham, at least when it comes to her views regarding the inclusion of trans athletes in the WNBA.
The Indiana Fever guard has positioned herself firmly against the idea of trans athletes joining the league, making national headlines in the process. Williams, on the other hand, seems to welcome the idea:
“I think trans rights now is our new battle; that’s where I think that I was saying, like, the battles have changed, you know? Like our intention has been the same, but like the environment has changed; we have seen trans people’s rights stripped away from them. There’s a lot of discourse around trans athletes and where they can compete in. I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team any time. I don’t think it’s a problem in the world; it’s just another way to kind of attack trans people,” said Williams on Thursday during practice.
She also spoke about the possibility of French transgender athlete Julie Tetart, who plays for Monaco in Ligue Féminine 2, joining the WNBA after a breakout season. She praised her for breaking down barriers for other trans athletes.
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Sophie Cunningham calls for the WNBA debate to go back to basketball and not social issues
On the USA Network’s WNBA broadcast on Wednesday, Sophie Cunningham spoke about the trans discussion in the league, calling for stakeholders to be respectful of each other’s opinions. Moreover, she expressed her discontent that the discussion around the league had lately been about everything but the sport:
“With that being said, I just hate how The W, the basketball of it all, is just getting overshadowed…It just makes me sad that all this sort of drama, on things that truly don’t matter, that the basketball is getting overshadowed. My biggest thing is that love and respect, there is room for absolutely everybody, and we don’t always have to agree, but that respect and love definitely has to be there.”
The WNBA has been a significant part of national discourse over the last few months, not only because of the trans issue, but also due to members of the public calling for the league to better protect Cunningham’s teammate, Caitlin Clark, whom they see as the target of harassment and discrimination by her fellow players.
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