‘They don’t want trans people to exist’ – Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve speaks her mind

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve isn't backing down from her public support of the transgender community.

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve has long used her platform to champion progressive causes and stand up for LGBTQ+ rights.

During an August matchup against the Indiana Fever , a game surrounded by tension following anti-trans remarks from opponents, Reeve made a quiet statement on the sidelines by wearing a "Trans Kids Belong" shirt beneath her jacket.

Meanwhile, the league faces external pressure to tighten its rules. Critics and political figures are pushing to explicitly restrict play to biological females, targeting the current collective bargaining agreement that simply states eligibility for "players who are women".

Cheryl Reeve stands up for the transgender community

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve isn't holding back on her support for the trans community. Looking back on the season, she doubled down on her stance, calling the pushback against trans youth an outright attack on their right to exist, and insisting that showing support is a matter of life and death.

She said: "I think that's probably one of the more meaningful things that would mark the season for me. It's that the transgender community is one that deserves our support and what is happening in the name of some issues of transgender in sports. It's really an attack on all transgender community, they don't want transgender people to exist.

"So I think that the amount of communication of that people who were affected by something as simple as wearing a T-shirt in support of them and helping them be seen. With the platform that we have in professional sports, it was a small gesture by me, it's something I believe in obviously whole heartedly and so if I could have helped just one to feel differently about themselves because for the transgender community this really is about life and death for them.

"The number of parents of transgender kids that I heard from and how it helped them and their families, it helped their child think differently about themselves and that there is someone in our position like we have as a leader. To know that there are people out there that believe in them, that they belong."

The thing that makes things so difficult for the WNBA is the difference in opinion. For example, if they shut the door on transgender athletes, they risk upsetting people like Cheryl, but on the flip side, if they don't ban transgender athletes, then it opens up even more issues.