<p>A counterprotester at a rally supporting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham told attendees outside the Fever’s game against the Minnesota Lynx on September 25, 2026, that they "should have been aborted." The remark was made through a bullhorn while the counterprotester wore a T-shirt with the word "abortion." The rally was organized to support the protection of women’s sports.</p><p>Another counterprotester used a bullhorn to label XX-XY Athletics, a women’s sports apparel company opposing biological males competing in women’s sports, as a "hate group."</p><p>NCAA softball player Kendall Kotzmacher, who attended the rally, reported that the same counterprotester had previously told her she "should’ve been aborted" during an earlier rally in Minneapolis on August 2. Kotzmacher stated, "He had a megaphone and was just yelling everything about how awful people we are."</p><p>Kotzmacher, a Minnesota native who plays softball at Colorado Christian University, became an advocate for women’s sports after her high school team lost a state championship game to a team with a transgender pitcher.</p><p>This rally marked the second Cunningham rally in Minnesota, following an earlier event that included supporters such as Riley Gaines, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, and XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey, along with pro-transgender counterprotesters.</p><p>The rallies began after Cunningham expressed her support for keeping biological males out of women’s and girls’ sports. Similar demonstrations have occurred outside Fever games in Seattle, Portland, and other WNBA cities.</p><p>Cunningham stated she was not involved in organizing the rallies but commended attendees for exercising their right to free speech. "I’m here to play basketball, but I’m also here to be me," Cunningham said earlier this season, according to ESPN. "I’m not gonna shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don’t agree with that."</p>
Why this rating? · 11 signals
Signals flagged in the original
- loaded language: 'protecting women’s sports'
- loaded language: 'biological males competing in women’s sports'
- loaded language: 'hate group'
- loaded language: 'how awful people we are'
- framing: The headline casts the event as a conflict between neutral-sounding 'supporters' and 'trans activists.'
- framing: The article foregrounds alleged abusive remarks by counterprotesters while presenting the rally’s position through the affirmative frame of 'protecting women’s sports.'
- framing: It uses the contested formulation 'biological males' in the reporter’s voice without qualification or competing framing.
- editorializing: a rally in support of protecting women’s sports
Analyzed by our bias model Full breakdown ↓
Protest and Counterprotest Occur at Sophie Cunningham Rally in Minnesota
A rally supporting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham took place outside a game against the Minnesota Lynx on September 25, 2026, where counterprotesters expressed opposing views. NCAA softball player Kendall Kotzmacher reported being verbally attacked by a counterprotester, echoing similar sentiments from a previous rally. Cunningham, who supports keeping biological males out of women's sports, praised the attendees for their right to free speech.
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Language Analysis
Loaded Language Removed
- ✕ loaded language: 'protecting women’s sports'
- ✕ loaded language: 'biological males competing in women’s sports'
- ✕ loaded language: 'hate group'
- ✕ loaded language: 'how awful people we are'
- ✕ framing: The headline casts the event as a conflict between neutral-sounding 'supporters' and 'trans activists.'
- ✕ framing: The article foregrounds alleged abusive remarks by counterprotesters while presenting the rally’s position through the affirmative frame of 'protecting women’s sports.'
- ✕ framing: It uses the contested formulation 'biological males' in the reporter’s voice without qualification or competing framing.
- ✕ editorializing: a rally in support of protecting women’s sports
- ✕ editorializing: XX-XY Athletics — a women’s sports apparel company that opposes biological males competing in women’s sports
- ✕ vague attribution: a pro-transgender counterprotester, another counterprotester, pro-transgender counterprotesters
Original vs. Neutral
Final Sophie Cunningham rally of the 2026 regular season pits supporters against trans activists in Minnesota
Protest and Counterprotest Occur at Sophie Cunningham Rally in Minnesota