WNBA guard Sophie Cunningham has publicly praised a group of Washington state high school girls who walked off a cross-country course in protest of a transgender teammate, adding her voice to a controversy that has spread well beyond the small town of Camas.
“Good work girls,” Cunningham wrote in a comment on an Instagram post by XX-XY Athletics describing the protest.
About a dozen runners from Camas High School left the course on Oct. 13 during a meet against Battle Ground after a teammate who had competed in boys’ races earlier in the season switched to girls’ competition. The walkout has since drawn national attention, and organizers have scheduled an Oct. 21 rally, called “Camas Courage,” in support of the runners.
A Pattern of Public Support
Cunningham’s comment is the latest in a string of public statements she has made on the issue of sex-separated sports. In a July profile with ESPN, she said her position was about preserving opportunities for girls and women in athletics, and she pushed back on suggestions that her stance reflected hostility toward transgender people.
Her advocacy has already intersected directly with Washington state once before. Later in July, two teenage fans attended a Fever-Storm game at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and holding a sign thanking Cunningham for speaking out on girls’ sports. The teens said Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted them and used profanity. The WNBA later fined Keaton an undisclosed amount and barred her from attending the Storm’s next five home games.
Cunningham addressed that incident directly, reposting OutKick’s coverage of it on X with the comment, “Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe.” She also said at the time that she welcomed people of all gender identities and believed disagreement shouldn’t preclude kindness, while calling the conduct attributed to Keaton “truly embarrassing” and saying it “shows the type of leader she is.”
Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder apologized following the incident, saying in a statement that “everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome” and reaffirming the team’s commitment to treating fans with respect. The Indiana Fever said neither the organization nor Cunningham had advance knowledge of or contact with the demonstration organizers outside the arena.
A Ballot Measure Looms
The Camas controversy arrives as Washington voters prepare to decide Initiative 638 on Nov. 3. The measure would bar biologically male students from competing in certain female-only school sports and would require health care provider verification of a student’s biological sex.
Supporters of the initiative argue it is necessary to preserve fair competition for female athletes. Opponents counter that it would exclude transgender girls from school sports and impose new medical and privacy burdens on students.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has said its current gender-identity eligibility policy is consistent with state law, and that it cannot adopt the kind of restrictions proposed by the initiative without running afoul of that law.
Amy Sousa, who helped organize demonstrations supporting Cunningham earlier this year, is leading the planning for the Oct. 21 rally in Camas.
“You should not have to become student activists. Adults are now taking the reins and adults are standing up,” Sousa said.
