There Are No Trans Women in the WNBA, so Right-Wingers Are Making Some Up
Right-wing commentators and some athletes are fueling a moral panic by falsely claiming that transgender women are playing in the WNBA. The article clarifies that no transgender women have ever played in the league and highlights the political motivations behind these claims.
Why it matters
This discourse reflects the broader culture war surrounding transgender rights in sports and the role of social media in spreading misinformation.
The Australian YouTuber, who has more than a million followers on that platform, had shared a 2024 video of Brittney Griner, center for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, admiring a new basketball arena at Baylor University, where she was a legendary powerhouse NCAA player between 2009 and 2013. Watson speculated in her post that “maybe the reason the WNBA refuses to define ‘woman’ and definitively say that men can't play in the league is because there is already a man ... in the league.”
The article uses strong language like 'moral panic,' 'grievance-industrial complex,' and 'transphobic fear-mongering' to characterize the opposition.
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