Latest news with #womenSports
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
5 lesbian power couples who play for the same sports team
Love is a team sport! Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey and DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa;From left: Hockey stars Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey; and WNBA stars DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas. WNBA fans everywhere were heartbroken when NaLyssa Smith was recently traded to the Las Vegas Aces after briefly being reunited with her girlfriend DiJonai Carrington on the basketball court when they were both on the Dallas Wings. Advertisement Carrington and Smith may have been split up, but there are plenty of other sapphic couples who are currently making lesbians dreams come true by kicking butt on the same team together. From basketball teammates in love to soccer stars getting engaged to their teammates to hockey players getting to play on the same team, there is love in the air in the world of women's professional sports. DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix Mercury — WNBA) After spending her first decade in the WNBA playing for the Phoenix Mercury, DeWanna Bonner was traded away from her team and away from her fiancé and fellow Mercury player Alyssa Thomas. But luckily for fans and the happy couple, the lovebirds were reunited this week when Bonner was picked back up by the Mercury. Advertisement Marta and Carrie Lawrence (Orlando Pride — NWSL) Soccer GOAT Marta has played in six consecutive Olympics and is the leading scorer in the history of both men's and women's World Cups, but now she's also playing on the same team as the love of her life. In August 2024, Marta got engaged to fellow Orlando Pride star Carrie Lawrence. This isn't the first time Marta has dated someone on her own team. Back in 2021, she was also engaged to Orlando Pride's Toni Presley, before the relationship ended. Nina Jobst Smith and Ashton Bell (Vancouver — PWHL) Hockey stars Nina Jobst Smith and Ashton Bell both played together for the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs but were then separated. Now the happy couple is being reunited after they were both drafted by Vancouver for the 2025 season. Advertisement Laura Stacey and Marie-Philip Poulin (Montreal Victoire — PWHL) Hockey power couple Laura Stacey and Marie-Philip Poulin used to like keeping a low profile, but the athletes got married last year and have been more public about their love for each other and their shared sport. Stacey and Poulin haven't always played for the same team, but they were both on Team Canada during the 2022 Olympics and are now lucky enough to be teammates on the Montreal Victoire. Diamante and Kiara Hogan (All Elite Wrestling) All Elite Wrestling's Diamante and Kiara Hogan made their relationship public back in 2019 and have been a wrestling power couple ever since. They may not be teammates in the traditional way, but both athletes wrestle for the same organization and frequently do promotion together. Advertisement This article originally appeared on Pride: 5 lesbian power couples who play for the same sports team RELATED
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court takes up transgender school athlete bans
The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to decide whether states can ban transgender athletes from competing on girls and women's school sports teams. The justices said they would hear appeals from Republican leaders in Idaho and West Virginia defending their state bans. A decision is expected by next summer. The move sets up another major dispute over transgender rights before the conservative-majority court that recently upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors. In the wake of that decision, the justices Monday sent back to lower courts disputes involving Idaho's Medicaid prohibition on transition-related surgeries, North Carolina's similar ban in its state-sponsored health plan and Oklahoma's refusal to change the listed sex on transgender people's birth certificates. But the Supreme Court held onto the transgender athlete cases that had piled up on their docket, weighing requests from Idaho and West Virginia's Republican attorneys general to get involved now. 'It's a great day, as female athletes in West Virginia will have their voices heard,' West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey (R) said Thursday. 'We are confident the Supreme Court will uphold the Save Women's Sports Act because it complies with the U.S. Constitution and complies with Title IX. And most importantly: it protects women and girls by ensuring the playing field is safe and fair,' he added. The justices' decision next term stands to impact a wave of laws restricting transgender athletes' participation in 27 states. In 2020, Idaho became the first state in the nation to ban trans students from competing on teams that match their gender identity. In February, President Trump signed an executive order opposing transgender women and girls' participation in female sports. 'Female athletes are losing medals, podium spots, public recognition, and opportunities to compete due to males who insist on participating in women's sports,' Idaho wrote in its petition. 'So much of what women and girls have achieved for themselves over the course of several decades is being stolen from them—all under the guise of 'equality.'' The laws have sparked an array of legal challenges that argue they violate the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination in schools. Many of the challenges are spearheaded by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represents the plaintiffs in both Idaho and West Virginia. 'Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status. Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,' said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project. 'Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.' In Idaho, the civil rights group represents Lindsay Hecox, a transgender runner who wanted to compete on Boise State University's women's track and cross-country teams. Lower court rulings allowed Hecox to try out for the teams, leading to Idaho's latest appeal. 'Petitioners seek to create a false sense of national emergency when nothing of the sort is presented by this case. This case is about a four-year old injunction against the application of H.B. 500 with respect to one woman, which is allowing her to participate in club running and club soccer in her final year of college,' Hecox's legal team wrote in court filings last year. The ACLU similarly urged the court to turn away the appeal in West Virginia, where a lower court blocked the state from enforcing its ban against Becky Pepper-Jackson, a high school student who throws discus and shot put for her school's girls track-and-field team. When Pepper-Jackson first sued the state over its restrictions on transgender athletes, she was 11 years old and in middle school. Both Idaho and West Virginia's attorneys general brought on Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal powerhouse, to defend their bans. Updated at 9:54 a.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Riley Gaines hits back at Lia Thomas and Keith Olbermann after Penn bows to Trump in transgender battle
Conservative commentator Riley Gaines snapped back at former competitor Lia Thomas and ex-ESPN star Keith Olbermann after the University of Pennsylvania bowed to President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, Penn updated its athletic record books in line with the NCAA's adopted policies of transgender athletes, which include three marks set by Thomas during the 2021-22 season. The move to add asterisks to Thomas' records comes after the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it reached an agreement with the school over Title IX violations related to Thomas' participation. Those updated records also come as Trump has called on the NCAA to ban biological men, who identify as transgender, from competing in women's sports. Gaines, who competed against Thomas, has built her career off the fame she gained from dissenting to Thomas' participation. Olbermann wanted to be the first to congratulate Gaines, in his own way, after the changes were made. 'Wanted to congratulate Whiny Gaines on now being able to say she finished tied for FOURTH not tied for FIFTH in the Lia Thomas race,' Olbermann said on X. Thomas won a national championship in the 200-meter freestyle in 2022. Gaines tied for fifth in that race. 'Thank you! And while you're keeping track, make sure to congratulate Emma Weyant, the right National Champ in the 500 freestyle, too,' Gaines replied. '(If you're insinuating 5th in the nation is bad, what do you call a man who ranks 462nd nationally in the men's category?)' Thomas became the first openly transgender NCAA champion with the victory and has become the face of the discussion about whether biological men should compete in women's sports. Earlier this year, a Quakers' statement said the school and athletic department will comply with the NCAA's new policies. 'The University will not – on the basis of sex – exclude female students from participation in, deny female students the benefits of, or subject female students to discrimination under, any athletics programs,' a Penn statement read. 'In addition, in providing to female student-athletes intimate facilities such as locker rooms and bathrooms in connection with Penn Athletics, such facilities shall be strictly separated on the basis of sex and comparably provided to each sex.' Gaines has garnered recognition from those who approve of the ban of transgender athletes in women's sports from the decision to add asterisks to Thomas' records. The win for Gaines comes less than a month after she was in a feud with Simone Biles over the subject, which also played out on social media.
CTV News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
U.S. college bans transgender athletes following swimming furor
Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas waits for results after swimming the women's 200 freestyle final at the NCAA swimming and diving championships Friday, March 18, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Thomas finished tied for fifth place. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) WASHINGTON — The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender athletes from its women's sports teams, settling a federal civil rights case stemming from the furor around swimmer Lia Thomas, the U.S. government said Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Education said in a statement that UPenn had entered into a resolution agreement vowing to comply with Title IX, the federal law which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational program. It follows an investigation by the department's Office for Civil Rights which found the university had violated Title IX by allowing transgender swimmer Thomas to compete in women's competitions in 2021-2022. U.S. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on the issue of trans athletes, has worked to prohibit them from competing in girls and women's sports since returning to office. Trump issued an executive order in February aimed at banning transgender athletes, allowing federal agencies to halt funding to any institution that does not consider birth-assigned genders in determining sex. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement on Tuesday the resolution of the UPenn case marked a 'great victory for women and girls ... across our nation.' 'The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX's proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law.' Under the terms of the settlement, UPenn will restore all individual swimming records and titles to female athletes affected by Thomas's participation. The university will also send a 'personalized letter of apology' to each swimmer impacted by the case. The college will also be required to issue a public statement specifying it will 'not allow males to compete in female athletic programs' or use Penn Athletics facilities for women, such as locker rooms. Thomas became a lightning rod around the debate of transgender athletes in women's sport after competing in female collegiate competitions in 2022. She had earlier swam on UPenn's men's team while undergoing hormone replacement therapy. Her participation in women's events sparked widespread outrage, with critics and some fellow swimmers saying she should not have been allowed to compete due to an unfair physiological advantage. Her supporters argued she should be allowed to compete as a woman. One of Thomas's competitors, Riley Gaines, welcomed Tuesday's announcement. Gaines has been a long-time critic of Thomas's participation in women's collegiate swimming, and tied for fifth place with her in the 200-yard freestyle at a national collegiate meeting in 2022. 'It is my hope that today demonstrates to educational institutions that they will no longer be allowed to trample upon women's civil rights, and renews hope in every female athlete that their country's highest leadership will not relent until they have the dignity, safety, and fairness they deserve,' Gaines said in a statement. AFP
Washington Post
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
'The disappointment is huge:' Cuban women's volleyball team denied US visa to compete in Puerto Rico
HAVANA, Cuba — The Cuban women's national volleyball team was denied a chance to play in a tournament in Puerto Rico following the new visa restrictions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The Cuban Volleyball Federation said last week that the team, comprising 12 athletes, a referee, and several coaches, had their visa request denied and will be unable to attend the tournament later this month.
