Sophie Cunningham booed by Portland fans as trans athlete controversy continues

Fire fans didn’t offer a warm welcome to Sophie Cunningham.

The Indiana star was booed by fans during the Fever’s 112-98 win over the Fire at the Moda Center on Friday night in Portland as fallout over her comments regarding trans athletes continues.

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Cunningham scored 13 points off the bench while Caitlin Clark scored a team-high 26 points.

Earlier this month, Cunningham made waves for saying she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men” in an ESPN profile.

The discourse around the quote was amped up when a pair of young fans, wearing apparel from XX-XY Athletics and holding signs supporting the 29-year-old guard sitting courtside for a game in Seattle were allegedly called “f–king insane” by Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton.

One of the fans was reportedly left in tears following the encounter.

Keaton was suspended for five home games and fined an undisclosed amount by the WNBA.

“I think at the end of the day, I come in and I do my job,” Cunningham said before the Fever’s win. “I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I’m full of love. I’m bubbly. I love the people around me. I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn’t even cross my mind. Doesn’t cross my teammates’ minds.

“And again, I’m here to play basketball, but I’m also here to be me, and I’m not gonna like shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don’t agree with that.”

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Ahead of Friday’s game, activist Amy Sousa led a rally in support of Cunningham after having organized one before the Seattle matchup.

“We were just going to do something quiet with just a couple of us, and seeing what happened to those girls, we just thought, ‘We can’t be quiet,’” Sousa told Fox News Digital. “I don’t want to be quiet about this. I want to stand in public solidarity with those girls. I also want to stand in public solidarity with Sophie and keep this momentum going.”

XX-XY Athletics founder and former US gymnast Jennifer Sey plans to hold a rally in support of Cunningham before the Fever’s game in Minnesota on Saturday, Fox News also reported.

“I have honestly had nothing to do with them,” Cunningham said, referring to the protests. “I think it’s people just practicing their rights of freedom of speech and doing what other fans have been doing since the WNBA has started. And so props to them, props to everyone who is able to be competent and be bold and courageous enough to to speak their truths.”

Cunningham is no stranger to making headlines as the on-court protector for star Caitlin Clark, and went viral earlier this season for a finger-pointing meme.

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— with AP