Brianna Turner Refuses to Be a Pawn in the Trans Panic Around the WNBAhttps://www.them.us/culture/brianna-turner-wnba-trans-rights 🔗Hanna Stolzer (15 Sep 2026)
Brianna Turner has been fighting back against the targeting of transgender athletes long before the toxic discourse currently surrounding the WNBA. In 2023, she took to X to say that "people disguise their transphobia as caring for women's athletics" and has even used her tunnel walk outfits to send a message of support for trans rights.
When I talk to Turner on the phone earlier this week, the first question I ask is why she's chosen to use her platform as a WNBA player to advocate for trans rights. Her answer is simple: she can see that trans people are a community marginalized by our government, and that her career as a professional female athlete is being exploited as an excuse to justify their mistreatment. "I hate being used as something to dismantle the rights of trans people," she tells me.
Turner isn't an anomaly in the WNBA, one of if not the most outspoken professional sports leagues when it comes to advocacy around civil rights. In many ways, the WNBA has acted as proof that it's possible for a pro sports league to be prestigious while still having teeth around social issues, raising the bar for other leagues to follow suit.
"Focusing on who should be allowed to call themselves a woman distracts from the structural inequities that actually limit women's opportunities," Turner wrote.----------------------------------------------------
@Sarah B
