Hogshead recently launched a Change.org petition asking the league to clarify the meaning of "woman" in its eligibility rules.The petition has collected more than 11,000 signatures since its Aug.
14 launch."We’re calling for the WNBA to clarify that its eligibility rules are for women only," Hogshead told Fox News Digital."If you wanna participate, you have to be a certain age, and you have to be a female."CHARLES BARKLEY DECLARES WNBA IS 'FOR WOMEN ONLY' AFTER ONGOING TRANSGENDER ATHLETE DEBATEA protester holds a sign outside United Center before a WNBA game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever on Aug.
8, 2026.(Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images)Hogshead said she hopes the petition ultimately reaches 100,000 signatures."It’s an 80/20 issue across the country, so we can do it," she said.
"We have well over a million people who’ve engaged with our materials that we put out about the petition.We just gotta get them to sign on."The WNBA’s 2026 collective bargaining agreement states that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA." However, the agreement does not further define "woman" or include specific language addressing gender identity or sex assigned at birth.The debate intensified after former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft while claiming to identify as women.
League sources hav since said that neither of them is eligible and characterized their announcements as "publicity stunts."Hogshead said the declarations exposed what she considers a contradiction in policies based on gender self-identification.SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM SPEAKS OUT ON PROTECTING GIRLS FROM COMPETING AGAINST 'BIOLOGICAL MEN'Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham reacts to game action against the Portland Fire during the first half at Moda Center in Portland, Ore., on July 31, 2026.(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)"I love it that they came forward because it just shows the hypocrisy of the WNBA, and it shows ...