WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and multiple team representatives part of the league’s anti-hate taskforce will meet this week for ongoing discussions on various topics, including transgender athletes in women’s basketball, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The anti-hate taskforce meeting was already scheduled prior to games over the weekend and comes amid a growing national conversation around the league, player safety, race, politics and equality.

Recently, transgender athletes have been in the spotlight after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham openly spoke about “protecting women’s sports” through clear gender policies.

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham said she told ESPN during a February interview that was published July 21. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

Multiple “Support Sophie Cunningham” demonstrations have since occurred at Fever games, including as recently as Saturday, Aug. 8, ahead of a road game against the Chicago Sky.

That same day, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) released a statement denouncing transphobia and other forms of hate.

“The WNBPA represents 200+ individual people with different lived experiences, cultures, lifestyles, and opinions. We embrace justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion,” the union said. “Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations. But we will not be used as political pawns.”

The day before, Engelbert sent a memo to teams addressing conversations around transgender athletes in women’s basketball, the Associated Press and ESPN reported.

“I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women’s basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention,” Engelbert said in the memo. “I wanted to reach out to share how we are approaching these conversations at the league office and to thank those of you who have responded to questions from the media with thoughtfulness and professionalism.”

Engelbert’s memo said the WNBA plans to “approach this topic thoughtfully, respectfully, and in alignment with the longstanding values of our league.”

“Second, our player eligibility rules, unlike the eligibility rules of some other leagues and governing bodies, are collectively bargained,” she added. “Lastly, preserving the integrity of our game and ensuring fair competition will always remain among the league’s highest priorities.”

The league’s latest collective bargaining agreement, which was negotiated earlier this year, states “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” It includes additional eligibility criteria such as age and remaining collegiate eligibility but does not explicitly mention gender identity or gender at birth. The absence of that specificity has been thrust into the national spotlight.

Last week, Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News he would encourage Cunningham to “keep speaking her mind.”

“We cannot take our country back; we cannot save the United States of America unless you have people of courage who are speaking their mind,” Vance said on the cable network Aug. 5.

President Donald Trump‘s administration has enacted sweeping anti-transgender executive orders and federal policy changes, signing Executive Order 14201, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” on Feb. 5, 2025.

The directives work to provide a government-wide definition recognizing only two sexes assigned at birth, restrict transgender inclusion in school and college sports under Title IX, target federal funding for gender-affirming care and roll back federal non-discrimination protections.

The wave of anti-transgender legislation is aimed at a tiny portion of the population — 1% of people aged 13 and over in the U.S. identify as transgender, according to a 2025 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA Law.

The Human Rights Campaign reported in 2023 that 19% of transgender youth nationwide were playing sports, including fewer than 1,300 who played sports in school. In 2024, NCAA president Charlie Baker testified to the Senate that he knows of fewer than 10 transgender student-athletes out of 510,000 college athletes.

There are no transgender women playing in the WNBA.

USA TODAY reporter Danielle Lerner contributed to this report.