Final Sophie Cunningham rally of the 2026 regular season pits supporters against trans activists in Minnesota
A pro-transgender counterprotester told supporters of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham that they "should have been aborted" outside the Fever’s game against the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday night.
The man delivered the remark through a bullhorn while wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the word "abortion," as Cunningham supporters gathered outside Target Center for a rally in support of protecting women’s sports.
Another counterprotester used a bullhorn to repeatedly call XX-XY Athletics — a women’s sports apparel company that opposes biological males competing in women’s sports — a "hate group."
The final Sophie Cunningham rally of the 2026 regular season in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Courtesy of Amy Sousa)
NCAA softball player Kendall Kotzmacher, who attended Thursday’s rally, told OutKick the man was the same counterprotester who allegedly told her that she "should’ve been aborted" during the first Cunningham rally in Minneapolis on Aug. 2.
"He had a megaphone and was just yelling everything about how awful people we are," Kotzmacher said after the first encounter. "At one point, I got told that I should’ve been aborted when I was younger."
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 featuring a transgender pitcher.
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Sophie Cunningham supporters rally outside of the Indiana Fever's final game of the 2026 regular season against the Minnesota Lynx. (Courtesy of Jen Sey)
Thursday’s demonstration marked the second Cunningham rally in Minnesota. The first drew supporters including Riley Gaines, former NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya and XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey, as well as pro-transgender counterprotesters.
The rallies began following Cunningham’s public support for keeping biological males out of women’s and girls’ sports. Similar demonstrations have taken place outside Fever games in Seattle, Portland and other WNBA cities.
Cunningham has said she was not involved in organizing the rallies but praised attendees for exercising their right to free speech.
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"I’m here to play basketball, but I’m also here to be me," Cunningham said earlier this season. "I’m not gonna shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don’t agree with that."
Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson's reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
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