Well folks, the transphobia brigade hit Brooklyn this past weekend: Sophie Cunningham and the Indiana Fever played the Liberty at Barclays on Saturday night. Cunningham—a stalwart Fox News media darling—told ESPN in July, “…I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” Since then, transphobes have shown up to Fever games in spades, letting their TERF flags fly. I heard Sophie tried out for a role in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway while she was in town.
As reported by many outlets, and as corroborated by my friends who went to the game, it was a tense and frankly distressing experience, with anti-trans protesters clashing with trans allies who were rallying in response. The women’s sports scene in our city is a safe space for queer and trans people, and even from my personal genderqueer safe space (living room couch), I felt violated and pissed and disheartened.
But the thing about these people rallying around Cunningham is they aren’t women’s sports fans. This Sportico video asking protesters from both sides to name five WNBA players speaks for itself. The handful of people I’ve personally argued with about trans inclusion in women’s sports do not watch women’s sports. And that’s because, to them, it isn’t about women’s sports. It isn’t about women, either. It’s about power. If you get to your first WNBA game via the fandom of an ignorant white girl who isn’t exceptionally good at basketball, I don’t really trust the integrity of your argument.
Sophie Cunningham is now sticking to a comfy script when asked about all this; she’s glad people are exercising their freedom of speech, but she’s focusing on basketball. The Liberty beat the Fever, 109-102. Focus harder, I guess.
And with that, here’s your newsletter.
NYC women’s sports news & culture
Here’s what you should know this week.
Fiebich back, Fever beaten. The NY Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich is back after missing 16 games with a foot injury, and all I can say is thank god. She put up 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 34 minutes in our win over the Fever, a very efficient first shift back which earned her Player of the Game. Seeing Leo impact both ends of the court made me feel a lot better about heading into the post-season…Speaking of which….
2026 WNBA Playoff spot clinched by the NY Liberty. With a loss by the Portland Fire on Sunday, we stamped our ticket to the playoffs. We’re now sitting at #6 in the standings. Here’s the current picture:
Rose Lavelle exits with an injury during Gotham’s tie with Angel City. I hate seeing players get hurt. I especially hate seeing any player get what looks like a concussion. So seeing Gotham FC’s star midfielder go down with a probable concussion last night… sick to my stomach. The team hasn’t shared more details about her injury as of writing this Monday morning, but she left the game and didn’t return. Losing Lavelle for the season would be a huge blow to our team. Watch this space. And watch her guest appearance on Broadway’s Titanique as well for fun:
What to watch this week
Thursday 8/27
🏀 The Liberty host the Golden State Valkyries at 8:00 pm ET. Watch on Prime Video.
⚾ The New York Heights host the Los Angeles Queens at 6:30 pm ET. Watch on ESPN Select.
Friday 8/28
⚽ Gotham FC hosts Portland Thorns FC (Pride Night) at 8:00 pm ET. Watch on Prime Video.
Saturday 8/29
🏀 The Liberty host the Chicago Sky at 1:00 pm ET. Watch: not yet announced — check liberty.wnba.com.
⚾ The New York Heights play the Los Angeles Queens at 6:30 pm ET. Watch on ESPN Select.
Sunday 8/30
⚾ The New York Heights play the San Francisco Firebells at 6:30 pm ET. Watch on ESPN Select.
Classifieds
Shouts and calls from the community. Plus some jobs.
✷ Run content ops at the Liberty ✷ Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment—the parent company of the Liberty, Nets, and Barclays Center—is hiring a Content Production Ops Manager. Salary: $85,000-$110,000. Apply and learn more.
✷ Street Lab is hiring Soccer Staff ✷ Soccer Streets—Street Lab’s pop-up youth soccer initiative that takes place in front of public schools—is hiring field staff for the fall. Apply and learn more.
And that’s a wrap…
Thanks, as always, for reading. Close to 300 subs…Love ya.