XX-XY Athletics seems to have become the go-to apparel brand for some fans who want to show their support for Sophie Cunningham and her stance against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
Their founder and CEO, Jennifer Sey, recently spoke out against the WNBA’s censorship of the fans’ messaging surrounding the trans athlete debate, condemning the league for being less inclusive than it claims to be.
Jennifer Sey Goes at the WNBA for ‘Censoring’ the Messaging Amid Trans Athlete Debate
During a Storm-Fever game in July in Seattle, Storm minority owner Celeste Keaton got into a heated confrontation with two fans in the arena. Keaton was subsequently fined and suspended for five home games. The Storm issued an apology as well.
More recently, a mother and daughter duo at Dream-Fever in Atlanta were asked by security to cover up their XX-XY Athletics and were threatened with being escorted out of the arena.
The Dream also issued a clarification, stating that the WNBA security “took actions that fell short” of the franchise’s standard of providing a “safe and inclusive environment for everyone,” and at “no point was Dream personnel involved in the decisions made by WNBA security”
Sey, livid at this censorship, recently said:
“The WNBA is just one fail after the next. They just keep stepping in it. They keep trying to censor us and our message. Whether it’s yelling at the young girl in Seattle or telling Riley and I we couldn’t have a sign or telling the woman in Atlanta she couldn’t have the shirt. It’s just censorship after censorship.”
“The WNBA is just one fail after the next.”@JenniferSey rips the league for preaching inclusion while censoring its fans. pic.twitter.com/Wj6OO270XM
— OutKick (@Outkick) August 22, 2026
She then addressed Commissioner Cathy Engelbert directly, going after her for failing to put forth proper rules and regulations regarding trans eligibility.
“The WNBA needs to take a leadership position. The Commissioner needs to stand up and say, ‘We’re going to test for sex.’ Put all of this chaos behind them and focus on basketball but she won’t do it. Because they have an agenda and it has nothing to do with basketball, it’s all politics.”
Sey has been very outspoken about siding with Cunningham, calling her “the star we needed” earlier this month, and stated XX-XY Athletics has been in contact with her for some time, saying, “We have wanted to work with her for such a long time.”
When the ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) sent a legal notice to the WNBA for censoring fans in arenas on August 21st, Sey was at the forefront in supporting them.
She quote-tweeted ADF’s post and questioned the league’s Commissioner, asking her, “Are all welcome at WNBA games Commissioner Engelbert, or no?”
It’s unclear where the WNBA truly stands on trans inclusion in the league. On August 12, they released a statement claiming there are “no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA.”
They continued by saying they denounce any “bad-faith efforts” to “demean or marginalize others.”
For now, though, it remains unclear whether the league pioneers a new age of inclusion and puts forth tenets that allow trans women in the WNBA.
