Overview
- Actor Hugh Laurie used posts on X to say he does not believe men should compete against women and to state his support for Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
- Cunningham told ESPN in late July that she wants to protect girls in sport and that her remarks opposing transgender women competing in girls’ and women’s sports do not reflect hatred of transgender people.
- The WNBA convened a task force of team presidents and general managers to discuss transgender eligibility and online abuse but the meeting produced no new eligibility rules and the league said there are no immediate eligibility matters.
- The WNBA’s 2026 collective bargaining agreement says only players who are women are eligible to play but it does not define the term ‘woman’ or publish a public transgender or intersex eligibility policy, and no known transgender woman has played in the league.
- Developing reports that former NBA players have publicly declared for future WNBA drafts while claiming to identify as women have intensified calls for a clear policy, though those declarations have limited independent corroboration and are being described by the league as bad‑faith efforts to provoke the issue.