A Georgia mother and daughter dropped $1,000 each on WNBA tickets to support women’s sports Sunday night—and got kicked out unless they hid their XX-XY Athletics shirts.
Security at Atlanta’s Gateway Center Arena told Casey and her daughter Annie to cover up or leave during the Atlanta Dream vs. Indiana Fever game. The reason? Their t-shirts stating biological reality—XX for women, XY for men—were deemed too controversial.
“We were made to cover up our XX-XY shirts at this game. They gave us t-shirts during overtime and told us we had to leave or cover our shirts up,” Casey said in a viral video posted after the incident.
“We were just sitting there. I didn’t make signs, I wanted to make signs but I didn’t. I did nothing.”
“We were made to cover up our XX-XY shirts at this game. They gave us t-shirts during overtime and told us we had to leave or cover our shirts up. This just happened.”
Annie revealed who got them in trouble: a fan wearing a “Protect Trans Rights” shirt—who was featured on the arena Jumbotron during the game.
“She was the one that told on us,” Annie said. “Because she was made to zip up her jacket.”
Casey pushed back on the selective enforcement: “That’s bullshit, too. She shouldn’t have to zip up.”
The reporter filming noticed the pattern. “It’s almost like the message was made and they said ‘Now zip it up’ to make it seem like they’re consistent, but they never were.”
The mother and daughter attended the game specifically to support WNBA star Sophie Cunningham—one of the few players willing to say publicly that men don’t belong in women’s sports.
XX-XY Athletics, the clothing brand behind the shirts, shared the incident on social media. The company’s mission statement is blunt: “Women deserve the opportunities that sports and single sex spaces provide. Sex matters. It is the single biggest determinant of athletic performance.”
“It is unfair and dangerous to allow males (XY) to compete in girls and women’s (XX) sports,” the brand’s website states. “For women to compete safely and fairly, women’s sports need to remain female. We’ll be here defending truth. And women and girls. Until that happens.”
Cunningham has faced relentless attacks from the left for her stance. In July, she responded to critics accusing her of “hating trans.”
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham said. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
The WNBA itself has yet to define what a woman is. The league recently slammed what it called “bad faith” efforts to “marginalize others”—even as two former NBA players, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft simply by claiming they identify as women.
The Fever beat the Dream 95-91 Sunday night. But the real story was happening in the stands—where two women spending thousands to support female athletes were told biological truth is too offensive for prime time.
WNBA security told 2 fans to cover their “XX/XY” and “For the girls” shirts or LEAVE the Fever-Dream game.
Meanwhile, a “Protect Trans Rights” shirt was featured on the Jumbotron. pic.twitter.com/TstweQoU98
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) August 17, 2026
— XX-XY Athletics (@xx_xyathletics) August 17, 2026
