BS BULLETIN
- Kasey Thomason and her daughter Annie say State Farm Arena security ordered them to cover their XX-XY Athletics shirts or leave Sunday’s Fever-Dream game.
- The explanation they say they received: another fan found the shirts “offensive.”
- The confrontation happened during Atlanta’s “Wellness & Health Night.”
Another WNBA game, another fight over whether saying women are female is permissible inside the arena.
Georgia mother Kasey Thomason and her daughter Annie attended Sunday’s Atlanta Dream-Indiana Fever game wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts associated with the movement opposing biological males competing in women’s sports.
They sat just a few rows behind courtside without incident for almost the entire game.
Then came overtime. According to the Thomasons, a State Farm Arena security guard approached them with an ultimatum: cover the shirts with Atlanta Dream “Wellness & Health Night” T-shirts or leave the arena because another fan had complained that their shirts were “offensive.”
“Biology and science is offensive?” Kasey responded.
With only minutes remaining in a close game, the pair reluctantly covered their shirts. ESPN’s broadcast showed them holding the replacement Dream shirts before they eventually put them on. The Fever went on to win 95-91 in overtime.
The New York Post reports another fan was wearing a “Protect Trans Rights” shirt and was also eventually asked to cover it, an important detail in assessing how arena personnel handled the dispute.
But the episode comes less than three weeks after an even uglier confrontation involving supporters of Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
Two teenage fans wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and carrying signs supporting Cunningham were confronted at a Seattle Storm game. Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton was subsequently fined and suspended from five home games by the WNBA following the incident.
The Storm apologized, saying, “Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome,” while Cunningham responded that people should be capable of disagreeing while still treating each other with kindness.
Wait a minute. “XX” and “XY” are now too offensive for a women’s basketball game? At a “Wellness & Health Night”?
If your definition of “inclusion” requires somebody else to cover her shirt because you don’t like its political message, we may need to revisit the definition of inclusion. And the WNBA ought to get a handle on this quickly. Women’s basketball should be able to survive women wearing shirts about women. That really shouldn’t be controversial.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- OutKick/Fox News — Mom and daughter told to cover up XX-XY T-shirts, say they were threatened with ejection
- New York Post — Mom, daughter say they were forced to cover up ‘offensive’ XX-XY T-shirts at Dream-Fever game
- Reuters — Storm co-owner fined and suspended by WNBA after confrontation with fans
- New York Post — Video shows clash between Storm fans and Sophie Cunningham supporters
