Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Commissioner Kathy Engelbert revealed in a letter that “only women are eligible” to compete in WNBA games.
According to Fox News/OutKick, Engelbert responded to “questions” from Republican lawmakers “regarding eligibility, player safety and confrontation with fans” in an Oct. 16 letter to Reps. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Erin Houchin (R-IN) and Zach Nunn (R-IA).
Engelbert’s response referred to Enes Kanter Freedom and Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate and former NBA player Royce White as “both men,” but she did not explain what it meant to be a woman. Kanter Friedham and White both declared for the WNBA draft and identified themselves as “transgender.”
The outlet noted that the letter was provided “by America First Policy Institute.”
“As to your question about eligibility, only women are eligible to play in the WNBA, and the people you mentioned in your letter are all men,” Engelbert said.
Prior to Engelbert’s response, Republican lawmakers asked the WNBA “how it defines ‘female’ under Article XIII, Section 1(a) of its collective bargaining agreement and why the two former NBA players were deemed ineligible,” the outlet reported.
In a post on
“Ladies and gentlemen of America, the moment you have been waiting for!” Kanter wrote freely. “The @WNBA has officially responded. Is the #WNBA transphobic?”
“Obviously, the WNBA still can’t define what a woman is, but they are absolutely sure they know what a man is!” Kanter continued freely. “How convenient!”
Kanter freely went on to say that Engelbert had “claimed” that he was a man and asked, “Who gave her the authority to decide who he was.
“This is their explicit admission that simply identifying as female does not change basic human biology!” Stutzman wrote in an article on X.