August 15th, 2026 – Many of you are aware of the transgender athlete controversy raging in the Women’s National Basketball Association. It’s easy to roll your eyes and wonder how educated adults can take the positions they are struggling to justify. But there’s more to the story which, over time, represents a serious threat to all New Hampshire citizens.
The official WNBA policy on player eligibility states “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” That’s pretty straightforward but once infected by the ideology of the Democrats’ socialist/progressive wing, people become incapable of sorting out simple things. This is what we are hearing from WNBA leadership now. Instead of embracing the simple fact that a women’s league is restricted to biological women, league Commissioner Cathy Engelbert recently put out this statement:
Transgender athlete participation is a “complex and nuanced topic.” She has announced a meeting to “sensitively” discuss exactly what this policy means with regard to transgender women. And that discussion will “approach this topic thoughtfully, respectfully, and in alignment with the longstanding values of our league.”
She went on to state that “The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate.” Meanwhile, the WNBA Players Association stated, “We embrace justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
In January the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether or not states could ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. Some of the answers to the Justices’ questions sounded like excerpts from Alice in Wonderland. Attorneys arguing to allow it were unwilling to say what the word “sex” means when used in the written text of a law, causing Justice Samuel Alito to express bewilderment and state “it must mean something.” The court eventually ruled 6-3 upholding state restrictions, causing the Democrats’ socialist/progressive crowd to melt down and renew their demands to pack the court to ensure the policies they support would carry the day, constitutionality be damned.
Let me boil this down for you. The league is restricted to women players. That is unambiguous. But opponents of that fact can’t just accept that a woman is born a woman and want to stretch the meaning of “women” to individuals who were born male but later defined themselves as women. This is based on their near religious belief in “inclusion and diversity.” By the way, if you don’t agree with them you are condemned as a hater. Does this represent “the longstanding values of our league”?
Recently two men declared their intention to stand for the WNBA draft. My daughter played basketball for Boston College and I can’t imagine her playing against men — it’s not just totally unfair, but dangerous for all women on the court.
If that’s not bad enough, recently WNBA player DiJonai Carrington fouled Sophie Cunningham and was ejected with a “Flagrant 2” foul. She immediately went to the locker room and posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on Threads. It wasn’t clear who she was referring to, so it’s fair to assume she was playing the “systemic racism” card — the tired old trope that all white people are oppressors and all people of color are victims.
Here we can see the culture war raging across our country with the Democrats’ socialist/progressive wing insisting on redefining many critical issues according to their political ideology — undeniable facts and common sense be damned. And it goes far beyond the WNBA, including loose immigration policies, abortion up to the day of birth, and undermining our police struggling to keep the peace as disorder and criminality surge in Democrat-ruled cities.
New Hampshire may seem pretty immune to all of this as we are well blessed with peace and prosperity. But clearly the Democrats are in the process of ceding control to their most extremist members. More and more leading moderate Democrats are loudly proclaiming the threat posed by their socialist/progressive minority seizing control, recognizing their growing influence and lust for power. Reasonable, well-meaning voters who want a moderate representing them need to take off the rose-colored glasses. Every Democrat sent to Washington will be under the sway of these people, with no place for moderate bipartisanship. Toeing the party line will be ruthlessly enforced.
Please get out and vote next month. If you are eligible to vote in the Republican primary, I humbly request your support. I have devoted my life to serving our people and I promise to help restore common sense to Washington. Whatever may be wrong with our country, we must prevent extremists from destroying all that is good in their misguided quest for perfection.
Former U.S. Senator and Ambassador Scott Brown, R, is running for the U.S. Senate. He lives in Rye.
