The WNBA found itself dealing with another controversy after two fans at Sunday night’s game between the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream said they were told to cover shirts expressing support for keeping women’s sports limited to female athletes.
After criticism spread online, the league acknowledged that its security staff had handled the situation incorrectly.
“The WNBA is aware of interactions at Sunday night’s game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts,” the league said in a statement reported by the Associated Press. “This should not have happened.”
The fans, Kasey Thomason and her daughter Annie, attended the game at State Farm Arena wearing shirts associated with XX-XY Athletics and the phrase “For the Girls.” They later said they were there partly to support Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who has publicly spoken about eligibility rules in women’s sports.
Another fan at the game reportedly wore a shirt supporting transgender rights and was also asked to cover it. According to reports, that fan had appeared earlier on the arena’s video board, something that added another layer to the dispute over how the venue’s rules were being enforced.
The incident quickly became about more than two T-shirts.
Questions surrounding transgender participation in women’s sports have become a major cultural and political debate, and professional women’s basketball has increasingly found itself pulled into that argument. Supporters of sex-based eligibility rules say women’s leagues exist specifically to preserve competitive opportunities for female athletes. Advocates for transgender inclusion argue that transgender athletes should not automatically be excluded from competition because of their gender identity.
🚨 JUST IN: The WNBA is entering PANIC MODE after admitting to a mom and daughter being threatened with ejection from their $1K seats because they wore shirts that said “XX” and “XY” — Women and men, BASIC BIOLOGY
Security said: COVER IT UP, or you’re out 🤯
WNBA: “This should… pic.twitter.com/DBXqB3r32K
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 18, 2026
For the WNBA, however, Sunday’s dispute was also a straightforward issue of consistency. Regardless of where someone stands on the larger debate, selectively restricting peaceful messages from paying fans creates an obvious problem for a professional sports league.
That may explain why the WNBA’s response was unusually direct. Rather than defending the security decision or offering a complicated explanation, the league simply acknowledged that the fans should not have been told to cover their shirts.
The controversy comes as the WNBA is attracting more mainstream attention than it has seen in years. Players such as Caitlin Clark have brought new viewers, increased media coverage and a broader audience to women’s basketball. With that growth has come far greater scrutiny of everything from officiating and player conduct to political statements and fan treatment.
Cunningham, Clark’s Indiana teammate, has also attracted attention for speaking publicly about women’s sports eligibility. Her comments have made her popular among some fans while drawing criticism from others, illustrating how quickly an athletic question can become part of a much larger political fight.
Fans who purchase tickets generally expect to be able to express ordinary opinions without being threatened with removal, provided they are not disrupting the event or violating legitimate arena policies.
By admitting that its security staff should not have intervened, the WNBA effectively conceded that line had been crossed.
