Thirteen high school runners locked arms and walked off the track rather than compete alongside their transgender teammate. That’s what Sophie Cunningham came out to show support for on Instagram. The Indiana Fever guard has never been shy about voicing her stance on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, famously stating that she wanted to protect “young girls” from “biological men.” Now, the guard has shown more direct support.

“Good work girls,” Cunningham commented on an Instagram post from XX-XY Athletics.

The post itself highlighted a protest by 13 members of the Camas High School girls’ cross-country team in Clark County, Washington, who refused to compete in a meet. They locked arms and walked off the track. This was because one of their teammates was a transgender woman.

The transgender teammate, who uses she/her pronouns, began the season on the boys’ junior varsity team before moving to the girls’ division. Because the student is a minor who has not given consent to be identified, she has not been named.

This is no new stance for Cunningham. On July 21, in a profile from ESPN, Cunningham highlighted that she didn’t think “biological men” should compete against “young girls,” but that she wasn’t against transgender people.

In the athlete’s final boys’ race on September 5, she placed 76th out of 301. After switching to girls’ competition, she won her first meet on September 29 against Union High School. She logged a time of 19:29.

The athlete has competed in six races this season, per a report from The Columbian. Of the six races, one was the boys’ JV race, where she logged a time of 23:10. All her races since then have been in the girls’ category, including three dual meets and two invites. One notable invite was to the Nike Portland XC Invitational, a girls’ junior/senior JV race, placing second out of 195 on September 26.

She also competed in the Nike Hole in the Wall meet, an invite that included some of the top cross-country runners from all over the Pacific Northwest. She placed 39th on October 10, when the event took place.

Under the rules set by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, athletes are allowed to participate in divisions that correspond to their gender identity. According to a statement from the Camas School District, the WIAA’s rules had not been violated. The Association also added that it had not received any challenge to the athlete’s eligibility, and that its gender policy did not prevent her from switching divisions within the season. Despite WIAA approval, the athlete’s participation sparked immediate backlash.

Camas School District Responds as Washington’s Transgender Sports Debate Intensifies

On September 15, the first time the athlete competed in the girls’ category, two opponents and one of their parents protested her participation. The adult was Joel Retzlaff, who went to the meet with his wife, holding signs to protest the athlete competing in the girls category.

“It will never be OK for a XY to steal an opportunity from a XX,” the first sign read, while the second said, “Please only XX competing with XX, XY competing with XY. Keep it fair.”

They were told to keep their signs away by the Camas athletic director, Stephen Baranowski. This was because, according to WIAA policy, non-team banner signs are not allowed, and so, Retzlaff began chanting “Keep boys out of girls sports!”

Retzlaff was later given a criminal trespass notice and was asked to leave the property. According to the school district, he then got into his car, repeatedly honked at the venue, and held the signs out of the window before driving off through a taped-off construction area and nearly hit a security member, which was the cause of the trespass notice. The notice prohibits him from coming to the school district’s properties for one year.

In the aftermath of the incidents, the Camas school district released a statement in which it highlighted that state law and WIAA policy prohibit gender identity and expression-based discrimination.

“Our district is responsible for following applicable laws and rules while ensuring all students are treated with dignity and respect,” the statement read. “We will not discuss individual students or their personal circumstances, and harassment, intimidation, or targeting of students is not acceptable.”

Washington voters are now set to weigh in on the issue on November 3 through Initiative 638. The measure looks to require students to submit medical documents that verify what it defines as “biological sex” and prohibit them from competing in K-12 activities that don’t correspond to that category.

Only time will tell how this situation resolves itself, but Cunningham has made her opinion on the matter clear.