The Indiana Fever Rally in Indianapolis

August 16, 2026

I went to the Indiana Fever game against the Dallas Wings in Indianapolis on Friday. There was a rally to support Sophie Cunningham before the game, and it was exhilarating.

This post is free and shareable. A paid subscription gets you regular access to much more content and the ability to comment and engage in conversation with other thoughtful people.

Entities like CNN can’t stand that a broad-based coalition of women and men are standing up to protect female-only sports.

They literally can’t stand it.

They just can’t help but paint this movement as “right-wing” and “MAGA.”

Check out this headline from earlier this month:

The piece is mainly about how a co-owner of the Seattle Storm once berated and swore at two teenage girls who were watching a game, court side, while wearing t-shirts from the company XX-XY Athletics and holding signs that said, “Thank you, Sophie.”

Sophie, of course, is a WNBA player with the Indiana Fever, who said that it’s common sense to keep men out of women’s sports, which it totally is.

The article states, “The T-shirts were the product of XX-XY Athletics, a brand by right-wing advocate Jennifer Sey dedicated to keeping transgender women out of women’s sports.”

Jennifer Sey is not a “right-wing advocate.” In fact, I suspect that she would not call herself an “advocate” at all; she’s a business owner. She once told me during an interview for Woman’s Hour that she went from being a lifelong Democrat to being a Republican because she did not want the Democratic Party to think that her vote was “getable.” I completely understand this approach. It’s not my approach, but I totally get it.

CNN thinks that the common sense position that men don’t belong in women’s sports is “right-wing.” Acknowledging the truth would likely induce panic attacks.

The entire article is filled with lies about how the people who are supporting Sophie are “right-wing” and “MAGA.” It’s extremely irritating.

So, rather than focus on that, I’m going to focus on the positive, by sharing images and videos of the rally and of the game. These photos and videos are not the highest quality. I don’t know how to edit photos and videos on my phone, and I don’t have time to learn. That’s okay. These are as authentic as it gets.

And, this is just a tiny handful of photos and videos that are out there. There are tons more, floating around on the internet. This is just what I have on my phone.

The rally participants. I’m in the middle, holding signs for Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender. Amy Sousa, a left-leaning feminist, is behind me. To my left is Brianna Pressley, with the group Women’s Declaration International USA.

It’s hard to spot them, but Meghan Murphy and Graham Linehan are both in that photo. I had dinner with them, Amy, and Krista from XX-XY Athletics after the game.

These lovely women are with The Tomboy Project, and they support Sophie Cunningham.

The Tomboy Project and Brianna.

A mom and her daughter next to a life-size poster of Sophie. What’s the mom’s political orientation? I have no idea. More to the point, I don’t care. She’s a mom who brought her daughter to a rally to protect women’s sports and she supports Sophie.

Me and Amy talking about Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender.

Me and a bunch of women with Women’s Declaration International USA.

Amy with the Sophie poster and the lovely people from the LGB Courage Coalition, including co-founder Jamie Reed.

Next, the game.

While Brianna and I were in line to get water, we saw this woman, wearing a Sophie t-shirt. Her political orientation? Again, I have no idea, and I don’t really care. She went to a Fever game wearing a Sophie Cunningham shirt. Good for her!

Me and Amy at the game.

Me and Brianna at the game.

Jamie Reed posted this from inside and said:

We finally have this. I didn’t grow up with this. I didn’t know a world could make such a simply beautiful thing. Women playing sport, against other women, with the world cheering them on in deafening joy. Please fight for this. Because it’s beautiful and it’s ours.

During the game, I was invited to join an X space that a group of Australian TERFs had started. I joined, and was given a mic just as Fever guard Caitlyn Clark scored a lay-up and the entire arena cheered. It was pretty fun.

CNN would eat a bag of rocks before acknowledging the truth that this truly is a broad-based coalition to protect female-only sports. Knowing what a woman is is not “right-wing” or MAGA. I honestly may never forgive the mainstream lefty media for essentially handing Republicans credit for knowing what a woman is.

Do you know who will acknowledge the truth, though? Fox News. A reporter named Jon Root has been at most of the rallies, and he does his best to give the lefty feminists our say.

After the Indianapolis rally, he published a piece titled “Sophie Cunningham supporters rally in Indiana while displaying what makes America great: A diverse coalition of Democrats and conservatives unite to demand the WNBA keep women’s sports female.” That headline is perfectly accurate.

He says:

After traveling to Portland and Chicago, I witnessed firsthand how refreshingly normal Indiana Fever games felt both outside the arena and inside. The crowds were vocally supportive of the women, and the few men accompanying them. Many Fever fans gave the Cunningham rally crowd a thumbs up, some provided encouraging words, and others stopped to take photos with the almost life-size Sophie Cunningham poster.

It was a nice change of pace compared to the radical, profane, aggressive trans protesters they have had to face in other cities.

“Refreshingly normal” is a great way to put it.

He observes, correctly, that:

Shockingly to much of the WNBA and liberal media, this group isn’t just a bunch of conservatives, who completely align on all of their politics. It’s a diverse group of people that represent a beautiful mix of registered Democrats, conservatives and people from a wide range of backgrounds and communities.

It’s not some sort of MAGA coalition, which many love to claim. It’s a group that represents what America should, and used to be like: Almost three dozen citizens agree that women’s sports and spaces should remain female, though disagreeing on a litany of other issues, while supporting the one female professional athlete courageously willing to stand up for what’s right.

He quotes me as saying:

The truth of the matter is, the clear majority of registered Democrats in this country are aligned on these topics.

The problem is that our elected officials are selling out women and girls. They’re selling out children at the altar of a cult.

He asked me what I would say to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who put together a “task force” of general managers and team presidents to work out what a woman is (to date, the task force has not succeeded in working out what a woman is).

This is what I said that I would say to her:

There are girls watching today. There are girls that do not understand what Title IX meant in 1972 to women like you, who have benefited from Title IX. You owe these girls a commitment to female only sports.

He quotes Jamie Reed from the LGB Courage Coalition:

I participated in medically transitioning kids… I [now] work to try to stop transitions and I think that it is incredibly tied up with the sports movement right now.

…

This is not a liberal or a right issue. This is also not a gay or straight issue. I’m a lesbian, my entire coalition is gay and lesbians… Most Americans know that [transitioning] kids is not right. This is a common sense American issue where Sophie Cunningham just said what we already knew in the Midwest.

He quotes Amy Sousa as saying that she:

hopes the pressure that we put on them (WNBA), will make them stand up and do the right thing.

You don’t need weeks or months, WNBA. The league is for females only. Just state the common sense that the vast majority of America affirms.

He notes:

This group, which seems to grow every game they rally, is a great example on how to agree to disagree. They find common ground on a vital issue that is affecting women and girls, and yes, boys too, as Jamie Reed and her team emphasized in our conversations.

Thank you, Jon Root.

In contrast to CNN, which is twisting itself into pretzels in order to pretend that all push-back is “right-wing,” this Fox/Outkick article accurately describes the truth of the matter: there is a broad base of Americans across the political spectrum who value single-sex sports and spaces, and we’re not going to shut up about it.

Until this is won, CNN can just keep its head planted firmly in the sand if it wants to. The rest of us will be out here celebrating Sophie Cunningham and each other.

If we can be heard, we will win.

Cheers!