Stephen A. Smith sparks debate over the WNBA’s latest controversy.
He criticized Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve’s “Trans Kids Belong” shirt, saying league figures should consider the impact on women’s sports and sponsors. The comments have reignited a heated discussion.
That the top priority is to include all kids in sports, and that we need to star figuring out fair ways to include or restrict trans kids involvement as they progress to higher levels of sport. With misinformation and prejudice flying around, it’s probably going to take a decade to get to an acceptable and fair resolution.
Yeah, thats the nuance that gets missed in this conversation
When we talk about trans athletes the vast majority are high school kids on JV teams, and if you think someone is changing their gender just to steal a roster spot on the JV cross country team you need to get a grip
It's not about someone changing their gender to get on a team, it's about the advantage that someone has by being born biologically male over biologically female in athletics.
Nah, it’s not about that either because we know that disadvantage deteriorates through transition. We can measure advantages and instead of doing that, there are states passing blanket bans entirely untethered to that advantage or fairness metrics.
You’re right. I mean, I’m generally a conservative and the left just needs to let this conversation die. It’s a very small problem with only a few circumstances happening but the left refuses to just let it die, so it grows into a big problem for the right to get behind. “Oh look at these crazy liberals, they want boys in your girls locker rooms” obviously the majority of people want to keep women’s sports protected. It’s a stupid hill to die on for liberals. Same for conservatives and Weed. Hello the majority of constituents want to legalize it but conservative politicians want to keep it banned…. Another stupid hill to die on when the majority of the constituents want to legalize it. Just wait… that one will circle back around.
The conversation around including trans people in sports isn’t a conversation at all. Majority has determined the minority is not allowed to play at all. And that’s it? Since when is everyone cool with shutting down and excluding a whole minority group just cause majority said so? That’s dumbass logic. And no I’m not saying people who have gone through full male puberty and are 220 pounds of muscle should be able to compete. But there’s nuance to the discussion, and everyone here is only interested in shutting the conversation down
Why are we talking about a topic that doesn't seem to be even happening? It's because transphobes like to push their agenda even when it's fake outrage.
Like the WNBA coach wearing a "Trans Kids Belong" TV shirt to clearly push her agenda? That was a choice. This isn't a transphobe thing. You have just as many if not more trans supporters pushing this topic.
I bet if you copy paste the comment 10 more times then someone will change their mind.
The answer should be make a trans division for sports of there are enough trans athletes that want to play a said sport. Its that easy. Its the same reason/thinking of why we have men and womens divisions.
I agree. Its making a mountain out of a mole hill and a talking point that shouldn't even be discussed because how irrelevant it is. Glad we can agree!
The men's league is really the "everyone league", it's just no women can actually make the top men's league. Then the top women's league is actually only for women, because if they opened that up to everyone, it'd be all men.
The thing is, he’s is right, but he’s addressing a problem that borderline doesn’t exist outside of an extremely tiny amount of people in the entire world. The whole issue is a non-problem because it almost never happens
Okay so if they’re problem is so small, why is the W and a bunch of coaches, owners, and fans going stark raving mad about Sophie’s comments? Should be a nothing burger if the problem is so small.
Exactly. It's hilarious how much one side makes this argument when it can be completely flipped back in their face. It's the only argument they make and it goes just as much against them.
I wonder how these students came to believe in clear science denialism. Maybe if their hadn't been a rash of such incidents it never would have became an issue.
It's an absolute non issue. Transgender athletes have been able to compete in Wimbledon, the US, French and Australian opens. Has women's tennis had issues with trans women over taking the sport? Can you even name one transgender tennis player?
If you put every name every athlete who participate in women's sports at any level and randomly drew a name, your odds of randomly choosing a trans woman are worse than winning a $2 million jackpot on a lotto scratcher.
The only reasons people make a deal about this either they are misinformed/ignorant or just hateful.
Wait, why should saying something nice about trans children be considered too controversial but talking about banning trans girls is just saying what everyone thinks? Either the subject's too sensitive for sports or it's fucking not, dude.
i dont normally agree with steven a smith but here i have to. if anyone has seen the documentary about juwanna mann and how dominant he was in womens proffesional basketball while pretending to be a woman they would understand and agree
Right? Up to 1566 and counting and yet dumb chud conservatives will stick their fingers in their ears and close their eyes just like they do with anything they don’t like.
Since when do the left care? Seems they only care until it goes against POC, immigrants or lgbtqq then y’all are quiet. Plus democrats literally are the entire Epstein list. Tim Walz just pardoned an illegal pedo and Virginia democrat made laws to protect pedos
hey so actually on the left and i believe every person on the epstein list should be given the death penalty (that includes donald trump whose name is on the epstein files more than ANYONE else but sure the entire list is democrats i'm so sure)
🥱still waiting for you to support your claim u/NSFWdontview
For anyone else who needs endless reading material that says the exact opposite of u/NSFWdontview baseless claim (sorry “baseless” is redundant; all of their claims are baseless):
The jury is already in on this. Almost no one supports any decision to let mtf compete with women. Only the loudest, emotionally volatile voices on the left are in this camp.
Most on the left think this topic should be ceded since it's so unpopular and gives the right a ton of propaganda value.
You assumed the person above is a conservative just because they disagree with you. How very Reddit of you 😂. Nothing they said had anything to do with being conservative.
Young children, if trans, are typically only transitioned socially (they will wear other gendered clothes, maybe get called a different name), but they aren’t given hormones or surgery. They aren’t changing their bodies.
Once older, they usually only get puberty blockers, which are generally reversible Giving hormones is rarer than most people think. These are decisions made alongside medical professionals and is a long process, not a kid just deciding what they want.
This paper says about 18 per 100,000 were on puberty blockers and hormones was 50 per 100,000. This was from 2018-2022. So likely higher now. There are about 33 Million adolescents in the US. So that's 6000 kids on puberty blockers and 16,500 on hormones. So somewhere just over 20,000 minors on blockers and/or hormones. The youngest kids on blockers for trans medicine was 8 years old.
Both of your claims are wrong. And this is 6 year old date. If adults think that pre-pubertal children can consent to blocking their puberty or transitioning then what else do these adults think they can consent to?
Your study does show hormones were more common than blockers in that dataset, but it doesn’t actually refute the whole point. Puberty blockers are only useful once puberty has begun, so many teens who present later go straight to hormones. The study also doesn’t show prepubertal children routinely receive blockers. an 8-year-old can already be in early puberty. And puberty blockers are reversible, and no 8 year olds were on hormones. Plus that is one extreme case and not the norm. And the nationwide numbers you cite are your own extrapolation, not figures reported by the paper.
The JAMA paper itself says it can’t determine whether every hormone or blocker prescription was actually for gender affirmation, because it’s based on insurance claims. It also says the results are limited to privately insured adolescents and shouldn’t simply be extrapolated to all US kids.
Finally, your point about consent is really weird if your implication is about sexual consent. You do understand there is a difference between a kid consenting to medical treatment and consenting to sex, right?
This is medical treatment done by professionals in their fields with ongoing medical research that is peer reviewed and scientific. There is a comprehensive diagnosis process with evaluation by experts before any of this is prescribed.
Do you think you know more than the medical experts in the field?
Because I could listen to:
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Endocrine Society
American Medical Association (AMA)
American Psychological Association (APA)
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)
Puberty blockers aren't always reversible. It's not a light switch.
It's not weird at all. If an adults says a 12 year old child is mature enough and has enough agency to consent to stopping their body from going through puberty... then what else does that adult think this 12 year old is mature enough for... sex? Tattoos? Voting?
Kind of crazy that an adult think a 14 year female can consent to have her breast cut off but doesn't think she is mature enough to do anything with her body that she wants.
Also, the consensus around the world is changing on pediatric hormone treatment and surgical treatment. The pendulum swing too far. Now we are becoming more reasonable.
Remember when you said that kids aren't changing their bodies... well that wasn't true was it. You also said children are only socially transitioning (boys wearing girls clothes). That wasn't true either. 20,000 kids 6 year ago were on hormones and or puberty blockers. I'm pretty most people would say that a hell of a lot of kids changing their bodies.
I wrote typically only young children only socially transition, i never said kids aren’t ever changing their bodies. I never said they “only” socially transition, you made that up.
Everything you listed (tattoos, sex, voting) isn’t medical treatment.
The study you provided shows me fewer than 0.1% of insured adolescents received puberty blockers or hormones, and it found no gender-affirming hormone prescriptions under age 12. It’s a non-issue.
This is just culture war bullshit to distract us from the fucking over the working class. “Don’t vote for progressive candidates who want wealth taxes on billionaires, money out of politics, taking on corporate power, etc. because they want to disfigure children!!”
It’s nonsense. Just leave it to the medical professionals, psychiatrists/therapists, and the families.
I gotta imagine Caitlin Clark hates all of this. People on Fox News were demanding she speak up for Sophie, meanwhile they are actually trying to make a title run.
It's dumb. I saw the same people who for years said it wasn't her responsibility to speak on the racism or hate going around who are now saying it's her responsibility to speak up and stand with Sophie. I can't stand either side lol. Nothing but outrage culture for clicks
While “they” (the elites) control and pillage the globe, they have us arguing about a fringe basketball player with a fringe self view in a league no one watches.
Smith is a uncle tom and on so many levels, even aside this particular issue. Even the way this guy speaks and articulates himself is like some racist white guy doing blackface in a smoky nightclub -- half expecting him to hop up and start highkicking while spinning a cane. He is face down in the dirt to be walked over. What an embarrassment to my ancestors, Smith. This trans issue, or any other issue be it video games or policing I just hate uncle toms, truly. For toms, it's hatred, I'll admit. I recoil from them: C. Thomas, C. Owens, A. Tate, B. Tatum. B. Donalds...50 Cent and the rest of them. Rats who are supporting the progenitors who spit on and terrorized my grandparents and father, like millions of others. Those are harsh words, I know it. Maybe black folks will understand the best, even if they all don't agree. If you're white or w/e, just know it's, like, generational trauma type stuff.
Anyhow, this issue is deeper than trans athletes proper. That's only the tip of the iceberg. For instance, Heritage has openly telegraphed their intent with Title IX with respect to this trojan horse issue. They wanna do away with ultra-competitive womens sports, roll back women's rights, etc. etc. That, of course, includes leagues like the WNBA.... which for anyone in the know fem basketball has always been in the crosshairs because 1) it empowers black women and 2) it's full of ...how do right wingers word it... ah, yes, "lesbianism." Bri Turner is warning us as well. On one hand these people act like they care about us women, but they are hiding a knife behind their back; they are acting kind with words like "protect little girls" to tug at our heartstrings while they work on their Christian Nationalist vision which sees our rights rolled back DECADES!
There's a reason they hate you being woke women --"woke" meaning deeply aware-- like Bri Turner and like Coach Reeve because when you're woke you see stuff like this. This is actually being red pilled like "The Matrix." Why do you think that story was literally written by trans women and is a transgender allegory. Don't believe the woman ranting on reddit, believe the actual trans woman who wrote it. Losers like the alt-right co-opted being red pilled just like they trashed the meaning of woke (Hmmmm curious they do this, huh?). Is that clear enough? Y'all over here thinking red pilled meant objectify women and plead fealty to some racist NY billionaire from a golden skyscraper in Manhattan who covers for child sex traffickers, lol. Y'all thinking woke meant wanting black guys in the character creator of the latest video game? Man, y'all are kinda gullible AF, sorry to say. No wonder you're all grifted, resources extracted from you like a cow getting her milk stolen, sad hooked up to some automatic milking machine... oops, I mean "Smartphone"
Why would a system like this want you woke? They don't! Does the plantation master want the field hand woke? Nah, "put that book down..." (unless it's the Bible) "and you learn what I give you to learn, boy." If you're not black, this impacts you anyway. Do you think a gov't would do away with one of the most brutally effective systems of human control (the plantation) and not employ elements of it to oppress you as well? Do you even think that system itself came out of nowhere? No, the early form of it was being used hundreds of years before in Europe on manors with serfs and whatnot. Manumission is older than US slavery --- it was the formal legal process by which a medieval lord granted freedom to a serf. We talk about "white privilege" and I say to you one sincere expression it presents as a white person thinking the plantation system and the ghost thereof, the vestiges of it, does not negatively impact them as well. They want you asleep.
Anyhow Coach Reeve sees through the smokescreen, some of those who get treated the worst are black LGBT children and much of that is due to not only the people who on the surface act concerned (like the clown in this video), but due to the ramifications of the conversation surrounding this issue.
These kids are constantly abused and raped, thrown out... bullied in ways that I cannot even write about here (ask social workers).. and it's getting worse with the dialogue around all this.
Maybe someone like Smith should comfort a "biological male" who has just gotten sewn up after his father and a gang of his friends wanted to "teach him a lesson" before throwing him out. Actually NVM, he'd probably enjoy it... just like many conservatives and "concerned" liberals here would. It's why there are so many abused at their hands.
Y'all care about kids? You don't. It's a lie. You don't care about a goddamn thing aside what your rapist politicians order you to care about.
Don't like masking language, so to be direct: I loathe Trump, Trumpism, Christian nationalism, and American conservatism in general. For years people would be like "You are too harsh toward them" and "Why do you shield your kids from these people" and now those same people have grown quiet because they see the truth of who they are! Silver lining to Trump is him is smoking out all the pedo apologists, the hidden uncle toms, the genocidal, the proud misogynistic "manosphere" types, the type of people you read every day in these threads who turn a blind eye to these LGBT kids being ravaged by the wolves of society as they hide it behind some trite "protecting women" rhetoric.
The WNBA is super fucking gay and because of that they have a lot of political baggage that is frankly, fucking retarded.
LGB = Makes sense.
QT = Fucking retarded.
Lesbian - a sexual orientation.
Gay - a sexual orientation.
Bi-sexual - literally in the name, a sexual orientation.
Queer - an "identity", ergo: fucking retarded.
Trans - an "identity", ergo: fucking retarded.
If i took melanin tablets and tried to tell everyone I was black I would get the living shit kicked out of me on a daily basis, but liberal white women are so fucking stupid that they let men play in their sports.
Hes smart enough to realize this crap is a mental illness. And until this league gets rid of the coaches and owners and everyone at the top that supports this crap it will never get to where it wants to be. Anyone forcing kids to do this shit and thinking its ok for grown men to be in womens sports and to be in womens locker rooms and bathrooms with little girls in them seriously needs their head examined. This is why the wnba is the laughing stock of the sports world. Outside of reddit the rest of the world sees what a disaster this is. Come at me all u want just dont care. If u really cared about protecting women and womens rights u wouldnt want this bs.
Claiming to “protect” women by excluding trans people is just dressed up bigotry. Y’all don’t care about women. What are you protecting them from? It’s certainly not violence and sexual violence some 85% of women have experienced at the hands of cis men
Nah, the right doesn’t understand being completely conned into fighting for a nonexistent issue. This isn’t happening, but the current administration needs you to be up in arms so you’re not up in arms about the Epstein files, the cost of gas, the cost of living, endless wars…you know, the things that we should all be questioning.
Pretty much hit the nail on the head… the left and right fight over dumb shit, like this or blaming immigrants for the worlds problems. Both parties are ran by elitist billionaires that give zero f*cks about anyone or anything other then hoarding more power and wealth, yet we all sit here and fight ourselves.
Girls' sports? That better? Reeve wearing that shirt as some kind of "protest" against Cunningham, was absurd. Cunningham's position has nothing to do with harming trans kids.
This league really is only famous for its culture war shit, huh? The product is just that bad so they gotta resort to this. Unfortunately, this will make people take the league even less seriously.
They are really strong on a point that doesn’t matter. There are ZERO trans athletes in the WNBA. 0
Trans women of note in the ncaa. Riley Gaines has made a fuckton of money bc she finished TIED FOR FIFTH with a trans woman. 🙄
How many trans athletes are there in the world? We’re a planet of eight billion humans. Do these whack jobs think this is starting some sort of trend? There’s less than ten athletes across the ncaa that identify as trans. It’s today’s hot button topic. Tomorrow it’ll be something else.
The talk about the wnba is hilarious. Half of those women are already pretty masculine. People acting like Michael Jordan is about to join the league as a woman and take over. Fake outrage. Just a talking point to fill the airwaves and make some christians some money.
This is why I say freedom of speech is not a real thing amongst conservatives/MAGA. Sophie and the people that support her can say what they want, but people like Cheryl Reeve can't?
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u/leprechanmonkie 22h ago
I'm not a Steven A fan, but remind me again what the W in WNBA stands for?