Since Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham came out against the inclusion of transgender athletes in the WNBA, the league has been consumed by discussions regarding eligibility rules and the integrity of women's sports.
As reported by Andres Linares of College Sports Network, the discussion lately has turned to alleged censorship of fans supporting Cunningham, including reports of fans being threatened with potential ejection from WNBA games for holding signs of support.
On Saturday, a fan told OutKick in an exchange posted to social media that she paid for a message supporting the XX-XY Athletics brand during a New York Liberty game and accused the team of allegedly altering and censoring the message.
"I wanted to put a message to Jennifer Sey and thank her for everything she's doing and got it approved. I paid for it; that was five days ago, and then 24 hours later, before the game, I get an email that said they're going to alter my message and gave me no reason or recourse," the fan told OutKick.
"We are not going to stop; that's all I say."
The fan also explained that her message was meant only to say she supports Jennifer Sey's work and that the New York Liberty sales team told her it wasn't "positive" enough to display on the video board, College Sports Network reported. She complained that the Liberty didn't share a specific reason why her message violated the team's rules.
In an interview last Wednesday with USA TODAY, the Cunningham made a not-so-veiled call for new WNBA leadership.
"You do have to have a person in power who is bold, who is confident, who wants the best for the players and not maybe for themselves all the time," Cunningham told USA TODAY. "So I do feel like, as a whole, that could be a position that's maybe open at the end of the year, but that's not my call."
This comes as Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has received threats of potential legal action from nonprofits that are denouncing the WNBA for allegedly silencing or censoring fans' voices, Linares reported.
