Two sixteen-year-old girls sat courtside at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Tuesday night wearing XX-XY shirts. They'd made signs supporting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who has been vocal about supporting young girls by keeping biological men out of women's sports. By halftime, one of them was sobbing.
Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton had seen to that.
Keaton directed profanity at the two teenagers during the Storm's 105-95 loss to the Fever. She allegedly told the girls "I hope Jesus can forgive you" and "God can save you" — which, coming from someone screaming expletives at minors over a t-shirt, carries a certain irony.
After the video went viral the WNBA suspended Keaton from five home games and fined her an undisclosed amount. Brandi Kruse, who had organized a pregame rally outside the arena supporting women's sports protections, described the scene bluntly: "Had this been any other fan, they would've been ejected." Instead, Keaton — a co-owner, married to fellow Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel — got to finish out the game while two kids cried at halftime.
The Storm's majority owner, Ginny Gilder, released a statement that read like it was drafted by a committee afraid of its own shadow. "Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment." An inclusive environment. For everyone except, apparently, teenage girls who don't want to have to share a locker room with biological men and play against them in high school and collegiate sports.
Some Storm players reportedly made thumbs-down gestures toward the girls during the game. Fans booed them while they posed for photos.
Cunningham, who scored 11 points in what was Indiana's fourth straight win, responded on X with the kind of grace that makes the contrast even sharper. "I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY," she wrote. "Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind. Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe." She said she'd be sending them gifts and called Keaton's conduct "truly embarrassing," noting it showed "the type of leader she is."
J.K. Rowling amplified the incident on social media. The story landed the same week Washington state voters are gearing up for Initiative 638 on the November ballot, a measure dealing directly with the question of biological sex in public policy.
The WNBA has spent years wondering why its ratings lag behind every other major professional league. Here's a data point: a team co-owner verbally attacked two minors for the crime of agreeing with a player on the visiting team, and the league's response was a five-game timeout.
Run the hypothetical the other direction. A conservative team owner screaming profanity at two teenage girls wearing pride shirts at a basketball game. That owner doesn't get five games. That owner gets removed from the league before the press conference is over, and every major network leads with it for a week.
Five games is what you get for a technical foul accumulation, not for cussing out children because you disagree with their t-shirts. But the rules have always been applied on a curve. The question is whether anyone still pretends otherwise.