{"id":599,"date":"2026-08-04T20:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T20:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=599"},"modified":"2026-08-04T20:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T20:49:12","slug":"sophie-cunninghams-actions-speak-far-louder-than-her-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=599","title":{"rendered":"Sophie Cunningham\u2019s actions speak far louder than her words"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has been unapologetically blunt in her belief that transgender girls and women have zero place competing with cisgender females. That view on its face is one that is shared by a majority of Americans. But there are those looking to legitimately protect the safety of girls and women in sports and those looking to use the issue to demonize the transgender community as a whole \u2014 and Cunningham\u2019s actions, more than her words, appear to put her far closer to the latter.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump reportedly vowed to help oil executives \u2014 and now he\u2019s whining about their profits<\/a><\/p>\n

Cunningham claims to love everybody, insists she isn\u2019t anti-trans and says her comments are about protecting women. But in choosing to pose for postgame photos on Sunday with outspoken trans critic Riley Gaines \u2014 the former swimmer who was one of the first people to speak out on trans women competing in sports with cisgender women \u2014 one could easily wonder if Cunningham is telling us a different story with the company she chooses to keep.<\/p>\n

Gaines gained notoriety after finishing in a fifth-place tie with trans swimmer Lia Thomas during an NCAA swimming competition in March 2022. Because organizers only had one fifth-place trophy and opted to give that to Thomas, Gaines had to receive her trophy at a later date. Using this dubious \u201cI was victimized by a trans woman\u201d narrative, Gaines operates under the guise of protecting girls and women in sports. But her rhetoric about the trans community at large shows a disdain that goes beyond the pale. From calling a Minnesota high school softball champion a boy to demeaning an eighth grade track-and-field athlete, Gaines has shown that her loathing of the trans community knows no bounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So why would a person in Cunningham\u2019s position, with her platform and claims of loving everybody, choose to embrace Gaines?<\/p>\n

To be clear, taking a photograph with someone doesn\u2019t mean you endorse every word that person has ever uttered. Nor does calling someone a friend make you responsible for everything they\u2019ve done.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Deadline: Legal Blog<\/a><\/p>\n

The problem for Cunningham, however, is that she\u2019s chosen to make character and compassion central to her defense. She tells us that her position comes from a place of love. Once you make that argument, the people you publicly embrace \u2014 and the behavior you\u2019re willing to overlook \u2014 become relevant to whether that explanation holds up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cunningham speaks of protecting women. But does that mean \u201cprotecting cisgender women from transgender women\u201d? What about protecting an eighth grade trans girl from a grown woman intent on humiliating her on national television by misgendering her? And if Cunningham wanted to be perceived as loving everyone, but also trying to protect girls and women in sports, wouldn\u2019t she consider sitting down with the trans community to understand their perspective on such an explosive issue?<\/p>\n

This is why Cunningham\u2019s choices, beyond her words, matter to such a large degree.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t speak to what is in Sophie Cunningham\u2019s heart. None of us can. I really want to believe her when she professes to love everyone. But claims of love aren\u2019t all that meaningful if they\u2019re only extended to those whose humanity is easy for you to grasp.<\/p>\n

Read more Senate Judiciary Committee approves Blanche\u2019s nomination for attorney general<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s hard to support the claim that you love everybody while embracing a fervent anti-trans activist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nSophie Cunningham\u2019s actions speak far louder than her words - Long Distance Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=599\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sophie Cunningham\u2019s actions speak far louder than her words - Long Distance Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s hard to support the claim that you love everybody while embracing a fervent anti-trans activist.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=599\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Long Distance Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-04T20:49:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=599#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=599\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0206dfa2bde56a4792f75b5b97027e43\"},\"headline\":\"Sophie Cunningham\u2019s actions speak far louder than her words\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-04T20:49:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=599\"},\"wordCount\":576,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=599#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/8f1937d39e22f783f6f9d1d6c2d1737f.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=599#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=599\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=599\",\"name\":\"Sophie Cunningham\u2019s actions speak far louder than her words - 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