The XX-XY Athletics brand has been one of the most vocal supporters of Sophie Cunningham amid the backlash she has received over her stance on transgender athletes in women’s sports. Founded by former elite gymnast and corporate executive Jennifer Sey, XX-XY Athletics promotes sex-based women’s sports categories and has emerged as a visible supporter of Sophie Cunningham. The brand has been a regular presence at rallies backing Cunningham, while supporters have also worn its shirts at several WNBA games to amplify its message.
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Jennifer Sey, who has personally attended and helped organize on-site rallies outside WNBA arenas herself, however, has reasons to believe that the WNBA and its surrounding establishment are engaging in what she sees as a “coordinated effort” to undermine supporters of Cunningham, especially those sporting the XX-XY shirts at games.
“I think there is a coordinated effort,” Sey said, speaking on Sunday’s episode of the Riley Gaines Show. “I mean, there could be a camera right in front of us for the jumbotron, and they would like suddenly jump over us because we were sitting right on the floor… They’re trying to construct a narrative that is not factual. They are trying to construct a narrative that everyone in the arena is wearing a trans shirt. That’s what you see on the broadcast. That’s what you see on the jumbotron. And they’re trying to pretend that people like you and me and all the Democrat women who show up at these pep rallies that we have that they don’t exist.”
The way Sey sees it, there’s an attempt to censor the movement, and there seem to be quite a number of instances that justify this conclusion.
One of the most prominent instances occurred about a week ago during an Indiana Fever vs. Atlanta Dream game at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on August 16. A local Georgia resident, Kasey Thomason, and her 17-year-old daughter, Annie, who attended the game wearing T-shirts from XX-XY Athletics, were asked to cover them up.
In fact, WNBA league security guards approached the mother and daughter, stating that their shirts were “offensive” to other attendees. They then provided them with neutral Atlanta Dream promotional T-shirts and threatened them with ejection if they did not cover up their apparel.
The backlash that followed that incident, however, prompted the WNBA to issue an official apology the following day, admitting that league security had acted erroneously and that the fans should never have been asked to cover their clothing. The Atlanta Dream also released a statement clarifying that team personnel was completely uninvolved in security’s improper actions.
Whether or not incidents like this reflect the coordinated institutional effort Sey suspects, or individual errors made by overzealous security staff, remains to be seen. However, for Sey, it’s another clear example of what she believes is an effort to suppress supporters of Sophie Cunningham and the broader movement surrounding female-only sports categories.