Cheryl Reeve goes to bat for trans athletes before game vs. Sophie Cunningham, Fever

Cheryl Reeve is speaking out amid Sophie Cunningham’s recent controversial comments on trans athletes.

Ahead of the Indiana Fever facing the Minnesota Lynx game on Sunday, August 2, the Lynx head coach addressed the recent comments made by Cunningham on trans athletes.

“I come from a space of inclusion,” Reeve told reporters. “The narrative that I think is problematic is to suggest that transgender athletes are the biggest problem in women’s sports. This is what’s bothersome. There is a faction of people in our country that are making this a massive issue.”

Since Cunningham shared with ESPN last week, protestors have been rallying outside of Fever road games following their Seattle and Portland games. This will be the third straight Fever road game that protestors have shown up to.

“I don’t think these demonstrators are not being peaceful,” she said. “Everyone has a right to peacefully assemble. That’s whether you agree with them or not.”

Last week, Cunningham’s comments about trans athletes in women’s sports.

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham told ESPN last week. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. 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.”

Reeve disagreed with Cunningham’s view as she emphasized the need to protect trans children by giving them the right to play.

“That’s where I say common-sense people get together and you find common ground,” she said. “To find a way to be inclusive. The answer isn’t ‘no.'”

“We need to protect trans kids,” Reeve said. “To me, it’s a human rights issue. Every kid has a right to sports.”

While there is no public knowledge of a trans woman playing in the WNBA, 27 states have barred trans women from playing in sports. There has been legislation passed prohibiting transgender women and girls from playing in women’s school and collegiate sports, including the NCAA enforcing that transgender women cannot participate in women’s competition. The International Olympic Committee and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have also followed suit in prohibiting transgender women from participating in the women’s category.

The Fever faces the Lynx today at 1 p.m. ET. Fans can stream the game live on ABC.

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