Sophie Cunningham’s stance on transgender athletes in women’s sports has reached beyond the United States. Before the Indiana Fever played against the Toronto Tempo on August 18, a Canadian athlete led yet another rally in support of Cunningham outside Scotiabank Arena.
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The gathering marked the first rally in support of Cunningham outside the US, according to Fox News, which posted a video of the rally to X.
“Canadian powerlifting champion April Hutchinson led a Sophie Cunningham rally in Toronto ahead of the Indiana Fever’s game against the Toronto Tempo,” the post read. “The gathering drew Cunningham supporters as well as a small group of counterprotesters, while a mobile billboard prompted Toronto police to issue tickets over alleged municipal sign violations.”
April Hutchinson and several others carried signs promoting “Save Women’s Sports,” and even offered fans the opportunity to take pictures with a poster of the Fever guard. Several attendees also wore XX-XY Athletics shirts, a company that has aligned itself with Cunningham’s stance.
On November 7, 2023, Hutchinson posted on X that she faced a proposed two-year ban from the Canadian Powerlifting Union (CPU) over a complaint regarding her “conduct on social media.” The action followed her public criticism of the organization for allowing Anne Andres, a transgender woman, to compete in the women’s division.
Hutchinson had previously contacted the CPU to challenge its policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s categories after Andres set a new Canadian women’s national record, and she had called Andres a “biological male” in an October 2023 appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
“I now face a 2-year ban by the CPU for speaking publicly about the unfairness of biological males being allowed to taunt female competitors & loot their winnings,” Hutchinson wrote on X. “Apparently, I have failed in my gender-role duties as ‘supporting actress’ in the horror show that is my #sport right now. Naturally, the CPU deemed MY written (private) complaint of the male bullying to be ‘frivolous and vexatious.’”
Meanwhile, fans quickly made their positions clear when the video of the rally was posted by Fox News.
Some saw the demonstration as a major show of support in favor of women’s sports, while others questioned how many people actually turned out.
One fan pointed out how they thought the lack of women supporting the rally was troubling. They wrote, “The idea that women are not all over this is disturbing. We have a lot of mental illness running around these days.”
In the same vein, another user applauded the ones who showed up in support of Cunningham and Hutchinson. Their comment read, “Good for those ppl who were standing up for women’s rights like Sophie does🙌. She had nice things to say about Toronto fans even tho some booed her bc Sophie is the adult in the room & a bigger person!”
The reaction wasn’t entirely serious online, with one fan joking about the growing attention around Cunningham. “The celebrity bandwagon is going to break an axle under the weight of the people jumping on😀,” their post read.
Hutchinson also got support from longtime fans in this endeavor, with one dedicated fan writing, “I bought April’s hoodie a few years ago. She stood strong when no one was behind her.”
Another fan joked about how few people seemed to be in the video, remarking, “There’s 5 people there lmao.”
Regardless, only time will tell how the reaction is for the next rally in support of Cunningham, but looking back at previous rallies, the response is likely to be divided.