The Indiana Fever visited the Atlanta Dream Sunday evening. It was a thrilling game between two of the WNBA’s most exciting teams, but what happened to a mother and daughter in the stands, just feet away from the court, was the biggest story of the night.
Georgia locals, Kasey Thomason, and her daughter, Annie, bought tickets just two rows back from courtside. They each wore an XX-XY Athletics T-shirt to support Sophie Cunningham and the ongoing fight to keep women’s sports and spaces female. Kasey wore an XX-XY shirt with the letters in stars and stripes, while Annie wore a Riley Gaines collaborative piece with "XX" on the front and "For the Girls" on the back. They were able to wear their shirts with no hassle or issue, until overtime when a security guard approached them.
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About halfway through the five minute overtime period, a security guard tried to get Kasey and Annie to leave their seats to talk to him. They were unsure why they were specifically being targeted at that moment, so Kasey asked him, "[Is it] about our shirts?"
Then things took an insane turn.
The security guard told them that a fan(s) were offended by their shirts, so they had the choice to wear the provided Atlanta Dream "Wellness & Health Night" shirts, or they would be escorted out of the building. To this, Kasey responded by saying, "Biology and science is offensive?", before reluctantly agreeing to put the shirts on so they didn’t miss the last two minutes of overtime, where the Indiana Fever eventually secured a 95-91 victory.
With about two and a half minutes left in overtime, the Thomasons are seen on the ESPN broadcast with the tan Dream shirts in hand. They can be seen talking to fans around them, who they said loved their shirts and showed support for them and Cunningham throughout the game. At about 1:30 remaining, both Kasey and Annie had put the shirts on.
According to the State Farm Arena prohibited items list, "Clothing, garments or signs displaying explicit language, profanity or derogatory characterization towards any person(s)" is strictly prohibited. The NBA Fan Code of Conduct states, "Obscene or indecent messages on signs or clothing will not be permitted."
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If State Farm Arena and the Atlanta Dream were really trying to claim the shirts worn by the Thomasons were a "derogatory characterization" or "indecent messages" on clothing, that would be an arbitrary way of enforcing their rules, at best. Discrimination, at the worst. But the fact remains, the security guard didn’t claim any of these things from the prohibited items list or the Fan Code of Conduct. He just said the shirts were "offensive."
Kasey told Fox News Digital/OutKick that she assumes a woman sitting courtside in a "Protect Trans Rights" t-shirt, who was featured on the video board earlier in the game, made a fuss with security, who then sided with that fan, which led to the threat of ejection from the game.
While speaking to a conservative YouTuber, Adam Francisco, Annie said, "She was the one that told on us." They told me that the same woman mockingly said, "I like your shirt" once they were in the tan Atlanta Dream "Wellness Night" shirts.
The Thomasons are unsure if security held that woman to the same standard with her t-shirt, though they did see her jacket was zipped up late in the game, no longer displaying the trans messaging.
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This whole situation is discriminatory, disgusting, and quite frankly, Orwellian. In no shape, manner, or form, is a shirt that displays four prominent letters, representing a biological truth that women have XX chromosomes and men have XY chromosomes, "offensive."
What's even crazier and ironic, is Sunday's "Wellness and Health Night" in Atlanta is a supposed to "use the power of sport to improve health outcomes for women and girls across Georgia," according to the Dream's website and messaging during the game. They also claim, "The Atlanta Dream and Emory Healthcare believe sports can become one of the most powerful vehicles for improving women's health."
Fox News Digital/OutKick reached out to the Dream for comment.
I'll tell you this, Atlanta Dream, the mental health of these two women, is not better off after the way they were treated. They were targeted, threatened with ejection, and embarrassed for no good reason. You held a night for women's health, while mistreating the very women who are working tirelessly to keep women's sports and spaces female. You're actions speak louder than your words.
This situation is less than a month removed from two teenagers who were verbally attacked by a co-owner of the Seattle Storm, Celeste Keaton, for simply wearing XX-XY T-shirts courtside, causing one of them to cry.
Keaton was eventually suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount for her actions.
For all the talk about fighting hate and vitriol from the WNBA, it seems like the hate, discrimination, and unsportsmanlike conduct is coming from a specific side of the aisle. We’re at a boiling point, and it’s way past time the league did something about this. The problem is not the women rallying outside of every Fever game across the country for the last month in support of Sophie Cunningham, and it certainly isn’t teenagers and their moms wearing XX-XY t-shirts.
