Sophie Cunningham supporters rallied outside in Portland while liberal fans booed her inside

Sophie Cunningham is now the most polarizing athlete in sports. She’s loved and she’s hated. That was clear Friday evening in Portland as the Fever traveled to another liberal Mecca to play one of the WNBA’s newest expansion franchises, the Portland Fire.

Cunningham’s bold stance to support the effort to keep women’s sports and spaces female has attracted women’s sports advocates to rally outside of her games. The first rally, which took place in Seattle, received moderate pushback from trans supporters and made headlines due to what happened inside the arena. A now fined and suspended co-owner of the Seattle Storm, Celeste Keaton, berated two teenage girls sitting courtside with XX-XY Athletics T-shirts and a sign that said, "Thank You Sophie For Speaking Up For Girls." Meanwhile, a local store director of Nordstrom, Marco Esquivel, was caught berating and cussing at the girls, their mothers and fellow Cunningham supporters. Nordstrom has yet to make a public statement.

"The 'With Love Is Truth' series began July 28, 2026, when women’s rights group Women Are Real, women’s rights advocate Amy E. Sousa (AKA Known Heretic), and independent journalist Brandi Kruse organized a fan rally with local supporters, including Washington high school athletes, outside Climate Pledge Arena before the Indiana Fever’s game against the Seattle Storm," the group stated via a press release.

"We are here today [in Portland] in solidarity with those girls [who were berated in Seattle], in solidarity with Sophie Cunningham, and in solidarity with all female athletes," Sousa stated proudly as she addressed the crowd outside the arena.

Sousa was joined Friday by dozens of individuals directly associated with the group, including former Olympian Inga Thompson and attorney Kara Dansky - a board member of Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender and former president of Women’s Declaration International USA, outside the Moda Center. They had dozens more join in support of the group’s efforts and Cunningham’s stance about 90 minutes before tip-off.

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Sousa said that Cunningham has been, "a voice of reason, in what has become a very contentious topic." She was then rudely interrupted by a woman in a "Protect Trans Kids" shirt, which featured a rose and a knife. The shirt has been worn by Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and the apparel features a rose and a knife to show that advocates will use both support and active, militant resistance to keep trans children safe from harm. The protester was one of about a dozen trans supporters who joined in opposition to the Cunningham supporters.

The trans supporters I talked to were not interested in defending their stance that men should be allowed in women’s sports. Many of them cussed at me, as if having dialogue is not allowed. One protestor in a frog suit, holding a sign that said, "Trans People Just Want To Live" responded to my questioning by saying I’m promoting a "bulls*** issue."

Other trans-supporting protesters I spoke with tried deflecting my questioning about why they supported men in women’s sports, and one even said it was possible for a biological man to change his chromosomes to become a woman.

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One photographer, who works for the Associated Press, told me that a group of young boys and girls didn’t know what they were doing holding signs, which stated "Thank You Sophie" with hearts on it, insinuating that they were essentially indoctrinated into this position to support Cunningham and keeping sports female, by their parents and the organizing group.

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So, I went up to the group, which included 6 young girls, 3 mothers, and one young boy, to ask them. Answering my question about why they were there and if they understood what they were supporting, one of the girls stated boldly, "No boys and girls in the same sports. Like no boys in girls sports." The Associated Press photographer stood by, off camera, defeated, though he tried to backtrack.

Cunningham stated pregame, "I'm here to play basketball, but I'm also here to be me, and I'm not going to like shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don't agree with that."

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Inside the arena for the game, Cunningham received relentless boos every time she checked in and touched the ball. The Fire promoted trans and gay pride flags held by fans whenever they could, clearly showcasing their anti-Cunningham agenda. The loudest cheer of the evening, up to that point, was during the ultra-inclusive "companion cam," featuring multiple gay couples kissing and a group of lesbian trans supporters waving trans flags prior to the start of the second quarter.

It was evident that many fans were there to protest Cunningham's "common sense" stance. The protests didn't stop outside. That was clear in the apparel, flags, and voices of the Fire fans in the building.

The next rally is slated for Sunday in Minnesota as the Fever play the red-hot Minnesota Lynx.