WNBA Can’t Define Womanhood—but DC Residents Know Men Don’t Belong in Women’s Sports

A task force for the Women’s National Basketball Association reached no conclusion on the definition of a woman after it met Wednesday to discuss eligibility rules for players.

“Today’s meeting covered a wide range of topics, including ongoing discussions on transgender athletes and the continued hate and vitriol directed at players online,” a WNBA spokesman said. “We will continue to engage all league stakeholders in the coming weeks and months.”

In a memo obtained by The Associated Press, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the task force would meet to address “transgender athlete participation in women’s basketball.”

The league decided to address its eligibility policies after comments by Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham about protecting female-only sports sparked national controversy. Cunningham and her supporters were the subjects of harassment, most notably by Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton, who was suspended for five games after allegedly yelling expletives at teenage fans.

According to a collective bargaining agreement signed in 2026, “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” However, the WNBA has not defined what a woman is.

The Daily Signal asked people on the streets of Washington, D.C., whether biological men should be allowed to compete in the women’s league. Most people answered that men should not be eligible.

“I don’t think they should be able to compete,” one man said. “I mean, after all, it is a competition, you know, and it has to be at least somewhat fair.”

Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom, two former NBA players, have announced that they will declare for the 2027 WNBA draft, testing the league’s ambiguous language.

The WNBA task force denounced “bad-faith efforts” to criticize its policy.

“There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others,” the league said in a statement.

White posted a picture to X with his new wig, writing, “If y’all don’t ‘yassss queen’ you’re transphobic. I really don’t understand all the hatred, I just want to play some hoops with my fellow ladies.”

The WNBA task force will continue to hold discussions “in the coming weeks and months” on eligibility requirements.