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Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve again expressed support for the transgender community on Thursday as competing rallies about trans athletes and women’s sports erupted outside her team for the third time this season.
Reeve addressed the issue after Minnesota closed out the regular season with an 86-66 win over the Indiana Fever at the Target Center. The remarks marked at least the fourth time this season that Reeve has discussed transgender issues during a WNBA media session.
“I think that’s probably one of the more meaningful things that will mark the season for me,” Reeve said. “It’s that the transgender community is one that deserves our support, and what’s happening in the name of some issues of transgender in sports – it’s really an attack on the whole transgender community. They don’t want transgender people to exist.”
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Reeve previously wore a “Trans Kids Belong” T-shirt during the Lynx’s previous home game against Indiana on Aug. 2. That game came shortly after Fever guard Sophie Cunningham publicly supported keeping biological males out of women’s and girls’ sports.
“Save Women’s Sports” activists then held another rally in support of Fever star Sophie Cunningham outside the Target Center for the second time this season on Thursday, again prompting pro-trans counter-protests. A similar rally took place outside the Lynx game against the Golden State Valkyries on August 19th.
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ shirt as the Lynx faced Sophie Cunningham’s fever, adding new fuel to the WNBA’s trans-athlete debate. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
During the Aug. 2 game between the Lynx and Fever, Reeve and Cunningham were spotted at midfield before the contest. Reeve later said the two understood they had platforms and shared an interest in educating people despite the disagreement on the subject.
Reeve said Thursday that wearing the shirt was a “small gesture,” but messages from transgender people and their families made it one of the most significant moments of her season.
“The amount of communication from people who have been affected by something as simple as wearing a T-shirt to support them and help them see – with the platform we have in professional sports, it was a small gesture from me,” Reeve said. “It’s something I believe in, obviously, wholeheartedly.”
“If only I could help someone feel differently about themselves, because for the transgender community this is really about life and death for them,” she continued. “The number of parents of transgender children that I’ve heard from and how it’s helped them and their families, it’s helped their child think differently about themselves and that there’s someone in our position that we have as leaders. To know that there are people out there who believe in them, that they belong.”
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Sophie Cunningham supporters rally outside the Target Center in Minneapolis on Sunday, August 2, 2026. (Kendall Kotzmacher)
Reeve first addressed the issue during a media availability in July following Supreme Court rulings upholding state laws restricting transgender participation in women’s sports. She called the political focus on the issue “kind of sick” and said “exclusion is never the answer.”
She returned to it before the Lynx’s Aug. 2 meeting with Indiana, when a rally supporting Cunningham’s position was held outside Target Center. Reeve defended the protesters’ right to assemble, but rejected the argument that transgender athletes represent one of the most pressing problems for women’s sports.
“Every child has a right to sport, regardless of gender diversity, transgender,” Reeve said at the time, while acknowledging that eligibility issues become more nuanced after puberty.
After the game, Reeve addressed her conversation with Cunningham and reiterated her belief that transgender kids should have access to sports. She also said activists who focus on transgender participation overlook other obstacles faced by female athletes, including inadequate facilities, uniforms and locker rooms.
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Cunningham maintained that her position is not rooted in hatred.
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve reacts during the second half against the Indiana Fever at Target Center Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Star Tribune via Getty Images)
“I think I’m here to extend the love,” Cunningham said earlier. “But I think even with that love is the truth, honestly. And I want to protect young girls in a closet, or young girls in sports, who don’t have to go against biological men.”
The debate prompted the WNBA to convene discussions with team leaders during the season. The league said there were no direct transgender eligibility issues affecting the WNBA, while fairness, competitive integrity and inclusion were among its priorities. No transgender woman has played in the league.
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Minnesota finished the regular season with a league-best 33-11 record after Thursday’s win. Indiana fell to 28-16 and entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.
