The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) acknowledged on Monday that league security personnel incorrectly compelled a mother and her teenage daughter to cover their "XX-XY Athletics" shirts during Sunday's matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream.
"The WNBA is aware of interactions at last night's game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts," a WNBA spokesperson stated. "This should not have happened."
The Atlanta Dream organization also issued a response Monday, disassociating itself from the security decision and assigning responsibility to the league. "The Atlanta Dream believes in creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. Unfortunately, at last night's game, WNBA security took actions that fell short of that standard. At no point was Dream personnel involved in the decisions made by WNBA security," the team's statement read. The Dream further referenced the WNBA's own admission that the fans should not have been instructed to cover their attire.
The WNBA's acknowledgment underscores a significant point: its own security staff required paying attendees to conceal shirts expressing support for women's sports.
Details of the Courtside Confrontation
The incident involved Georgia resident Kasey Thomason and her 17-year-old daughter, Annie, who were seated courtside during Indiana's 95-91 victory over the Dream. According to Thomason, security approached them in overtime. The pair were wearing "XX-XY Athletics" shirts, which are known to support Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and her position on safeguarding female athletics. These shirts have become a symbol in what some describe as the WNBA's "trans dilemma," raising questions within the women's basketball league about the definition of who belongs in women's sports.
The mother and daughter wore their shirts without any issues throughout the first four quarters of the game. However, during overtime, Kasey Thomason recounted that a fan lodged a complaint, leading security to issue an ultimatum: either cover their shirts with Atlanta Dream apparel or be ejected from the arena.
"Biology and science is offensive?" Kasey Thomason recalled asking in response.
Reluctantly, to witness the conclusion of the game, they complied and put on the Dream shirts.
While the WNBA has conceded that security overstepped, this admission prompts a larger inquiry: How did a women's basketball league reach a point where expressing a biological reality could lead to intervention by security personnel?
Broader Context and Previous Incidents
The debate surrounding these issues gained national attention weeks prior when Sophie Cunningham publicly advocated for excluding biological males from women's sports. This controversy reportedly led to discussions among team executives within a WNBA task force, with the league publicly condemning what it termed "bad-faith efforts" to exploit the transgender-athlete discussion to demean or marginalize individuals.
Less than three weeks before this latest incident, Celeste Keaton, a minority co-owner of the Seattle Storm, confronted two teenage girls wearing similar "XX-XY Athletics" gear and supporting Cunningham at a Fever-Storm game. The Storm subsequently issued an apology, and the WNBA imposed an undisclosed fine on Keaton, along with a five-game suspension from attending home games. Now, another mother and her teenage daughter supporting the same cause have been confronted at a WNBA game, this time by the league's own security.
Kasey Thomason stated her belief that a nearby fan wearing a "Protect Trans Rights" shirt had made the complaint. While the Thomasons could not confirm if security also instructed that fan to cover their shirt, they later observed the fan's jacket zipped up over it.
Policies and Perception
State Farm Arena's policy prohibits clothing that displays explicit language, profanity, or derogatory characterizations. Similarly, the NBA Fan Code of Conduct forbids obscene or indecent messages on apparel. According to Kasey Thomason, security did not reference either of these policies, instead simply informing the pair that their shirts were "offensive."
This situation underscores a growing challenge for the WNBA regarding its identity within women's sports. The incident, where league security targeted fans for expressing a particular viewpoint on women's sports, has further intensified the league's internal struggles. The act of compelling fans to cover "XX-XY" shirts was not merely a questionable decision; by the WNBA's own account, it constituted crossing a boundary.
"This should not have happened."
As of now, questions remain regarding the specific reasons security ordered the fans to cover their shirts, which policy they were believed to have violated, and whether the league is conducting an investigation into the incident.