The WNBA has told two trans athletes they cannot play in the league, but the decision is sparking a broader fight over how the league defines gender β and critics say the policy is inconsistent with its own recent history.
According to The Gateway Pundit, the league released a letter this week stating that Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce (Roysha) White will not be permitted to play in the women’s league. The outlet reported that the WNBA declined to define what a woman is in the same letter, a omission that has become the central point of contention among critics.
Kanter Freedom, a former NBA center who has been outspoken on a range of political issues, released his own letter on Thursday responding to the decision. He questioned the authority behind the ruling and argued that the league cannot logically determine who is a man without first explaining what qualifies someone as a woman.
“WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has declared that I am a man,” Kanter Freedom wrote, according to the outlet. “Who gave her the authority to decide who I am? And how can the WNBA determine who is a man without explaining what qualifies someone as a woman?”
He also asked whether the league is “denying people the right to define their own gender identity” and urged Americans to read the letter for themselves.
The Clarendon Precedent
The Gateway Pundit reported that the WNBA previously allowed a trans player to compete in the league for years, a fact that critics argue undermines the league’s current position. Layshia Clarendon, who was born female and later underwent chest surgery, played in the WNBA from 2013 to 2024, according to the outlet.
Clarendon was open about the transition. In January 2021, while playing for the New York Liberty and later the Minnesota Lynx, Clarendon posted about the surgery publicly, writing that they were “feeling free & euphoric” in their body and wanted trans people to know “we’ve always existed & no one can erase us.”
The outlet noted that Clarendon was permitted to play while receiving testosterone, a detail that has become central to the criticism of the league’s decision on Kanter Freedom and White.
Clay Travis, a sports commentator and founder of OutKick, seized on that discrepancy in a post on X, arguing that the league may have a legal problem on its hands. Travis wrote that if the WNBA allowed “a woman identifying as a man play β while receiving testosterone β and called him a man in league releases,” it would be difficult to justify banning “men who say they are women.” He called on other lawyers to review and analyze the situation.
A Reversal for the League
The Gateway Pundit framed the decision as a sharp reversal for a league it described as once being “trans-welcoming,” now calling it “the nation’s leading openly trans-phobic league” β language that reflects the outlet’s editorial stance rather than a neutral characterization.
The report did not include the full text of the WNBA’s letter or a direct response from the league or Commissioner Engelbert beyond Kanter Freedom’s characterization of it. It also did not specify what criteria, if any, the league used to reach its decision or whether the policy applies to future players.
The dispute lands in the middle of a national debate over transgender participation in sports, which has become a major political issue at the state and federal level in recent years. Several states have passed laws restricting trans athletes from competing in categories matching their gender identity, and the issue has drawn attention from lawmakers and candidates across the country.
For now, the WNBA has not publicly clarified its definition of a woman, and the questions raised by Kanter Freedom and Travis remain unanswered by the league, according to the report.
Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com β https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/wnba-releases-letter-says-enes-cantor-freedom-royce/