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

Supporters gathered outside the Indiana Fever game in Portland on Friday night were met with counterprotesters as Sophie Cunningham's comments on trans athletes continue to take over the WNBA.

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.

Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever smiles before a game against the Seattle Storm on July 28, 2026, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Wash. (NBAE via Getty Images)

"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