Indiana Fever coach refuses to back Sophie Cunningham in protecting women's sports—claims she’s ‘not educated’ in biology

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White declined to condemn males competing in women’s sports during a press conference, saying she is not “educated enough from a scientific standpoint” to comment on the matter of trans athletes.

White was asked by reporters about biological males competing in women’s sports, but she said she opposed exclusion and was not sufficiently informed to speak on the issue. The topic of transgender athletes in women’s sports has made headlines within the WNBA community after Fever guard Sophie Cunningham vocally opposed biological males competing as women.

"I don't know that I would say I'm educated enough from a scientific standpoint,” White said. “I don't ever believe that exclusion is the answer. I just don't. I do think that when we think about various levels of sport, various governing bodies of sport, and things that go into that, like I said, I'm not educated enough at the different levels. I know growing up I played with the boys all the time.”

When asked if she would welcome a biological male in the WNBA, White declined to take a definitive position. She also declined to directly answer whether she would be comfortable with a trans-identifying biological male sharing a women’s locker room with athletes.

"I don't know, when we talk about biological male and scientifically where we are, I think it's a totally different scenario,” White replied. “Like I said, I'm not educated enough on transgender and transitioning, to give you a smart answer. I would say though that I just don't think that exclusion is the answer, we need to have deeper and more layered conversations.”

Her comments come as Cunningham has drawn criticism from activists over her opposition to transgender-identifying athletes in women’s sports. Cunningham has repeatedly defended her position and has declined to back away from her comments despite the backlash.

Cunningham also recently praised two teenage girls who were confronted during Tuesday night's game against the Seattle Storm. The girls were wearing XX-XY Athletic shirts and held a sign reading, “Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls” when a co-owner of the Seattle team berated the pair and left one in tears. That owner was suspended for five games following the incident.

“Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon,” Cunningham wrote on social media.