The WNBA has acknowledged that league security improperly compelled a mother and her teenage daughter to cover their XX-XY Athletics shirts during Sunday's game between the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream in Atlanta. The league issued a statement Monday confirming the incident, which involved fans seated courtside.
"The WNBA is aware of interactions at last night's game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts," a WNBA spokesperson said in a statement provided to OutKick. "This should not have happened."
The pair, identified as Georgia residents Kasey Thomason and her 17-year-old daughter Annie, wore shirts supporting Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and her stance on protecting biological female athletics. According to Kasey Thomason, security approached them in overtime after a fan complained, issuing an ultimatum: cover the shirts or face ejection.
Thomason stated that security did not cite specific arena policies regarding explicit language or indecent messages on clothing. Instead, she recalled being told their shirts were "offensive." The Thomasons eventually complied by putting on Atlanta Dream shirts to continue watching the game, which Indiana won 95-91.
This incident follows a separate event less than three weeks prior, where Seattle Storm minority co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted two teenage girls wearing similar XX-XY Athletics gear at a Fever-Storm game. The Storm subsequently apologized, and the WNBA fined Keaton and suspended her from attending five home games.
Sophie Cunningham's public statements regarding the inclusion of biological males in women's sports have generated national debate, prompting discussions among WNBA team executives. The league has denounced what it termed "bad-faith efforts" to use the transgender-athlete debate to demean or marginalize individuals. The Thomasons noted that a nearby fan wearing a "Protect Trans Rights" shirt appeared to have complained to security, and they later observed that fan's jacket zipped over her shirt. However, they could not confirm if that fan was also instructed to cover her attire.