Leave Caitlin Clark alone!
Bigots are using the sensational scorer as a cudgel to bash out LGBTQ+ women basketball players, even though she’s never issued a statement on the matter. It’s the same playbook they use to discriminate against trans athletes, and it’s just gross.
The latest flareup arrived earlier this week, when the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team was announced, and didn’t include Clark. With seven straight gold medals, the U.S. women’s basketball team is maybe the most dominant in the world, and the most difficult to crack.
Though Clark is a basketball phenom, she’s not one of the best 12 female players in the country… yet. The Iowa standout is 13th on the WNBA scoring list with a field goal percentage of 37%.
While those are solid numbers, some of the best players in WNBA history are on the Olympic roster: Breanna Stewart (2-time gold medalist and 2-time WNBA champ), Diana Taurasi (5-time gold medalist and 3-time WNBA champ) and Brittany Griner (2-time gold medalist and 9-time WNBA All-Star).
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For further proof about the difficulty of making the Olympic team, look no further than Kelsey Plum, who finished college as the all-time NCAA scoring leader and won back-to-back WNBA championships. Despite those incredible accolades, this will be her first Olympics. The same can be said for Alyssa Thomas, a 4-time WNBA All-Star.
Yet, homophobes are caterwauling about Clark’s omission. Over the last two days alone, OutKick, the preeminent anti-Black and anti-gay sports site, has published at least 10 articles about Clark getting left off the roster.
“WNBA mean girls won’t accept Caitlin Clark until she apologizes for being white and straight,” one headline blares.
I think Caitlin Clark should file a restraining order against @Outkick… pic.twitter.com/64mCoUqDbZ
— Alex Reimer (@AlexReimer1) June 12, 2024
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We’ve seen the OutKick bros get exposed before when trying to use women’s basketball as a tool to push their bigoted agenda.
During the NCAA women’s Final Four, one of their low-rung bloggers asked South Carolina coach Dawn Staley about trans participation in women’s sports… a topic that had absolutely nothing to do with the tournament.
With the championship game roughly 24 hours away, Staley could’ve brushed off the disingenuous inquiry. Instead, she answered in the affirmative.
“If you consider yourself a woman, and you want to play sports, or vice versa, you should be able to play. Do you want me to go deeper?” she said, baiting the blogger.
When asked again, Staley was even more direct.
“Yes,” she replied bluntly.
Far right content creator: “Do you think that trans women should be able to play women’s sports?”
Dawn Staley, coach of SC’s women’s basketball team, doesn’t hold back: “Yes… and people are going to flood my timeline… and I’m ok with that.”
Wow!pic.twitter.com/XxLDwDZUdB
— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) April 6, 2024
Make no mistake: there is deep-seated anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment attached to the right’s rallying around Clark. Half of the U.S. Olympic basketball team’s roster is queer, and two of the coaches are out as well.
Jason Whitlock, the antigay activist who embarrassed himself with an all-time self-own earlier this year, isn’t even trying to hide his disdain.
“They’re saying, ‘I’d rather go without a big crowd watching. And I’d rather put the BLM—Black Lives Matter—LGBTQIA+ silent ‘P’ team out there, than have a Christian be the biggest draw,” he said Tuesday.
By not naming Caitlin Clark to the Olympic roster, the WNBA is saying that they would rather go without a big crowd watching in order to promote the Alphabet Mafia. pic.twitter.com/8tYAUN4ZvW
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) June 11, 2024
Prior to the Olympic brouhaha, the biggest Caitlin Clark trigger point happened last week, when Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter shoved her to the ground. The physical foul spurred debate over whether Clark is being targeted.
Before we go further, the answer to that question is probably “yes,” and it has nothing to do with sexuality or race. Clark, this year’s No. 1 overall pick, is a highly skilled and confident rookie. Across sports, it’s normal for veterans to try and test the new kid.
Every sports fan knows that, but the gay-hating goobers are feigning ignorance. Clay Travis, the founder of OutKick, told Sean Hannity last week that Black lesbians in the WNBA are upset that Clark is a… straight woman with a fiancé.
“Caitlin Clark is a white heterosexual woman in a Black lesbian league and they resent and are jealous of all of the attention and the shoe deal that she got,” he said.
Travis’ claim was soooo ridiculous, even Hannity didn’t buy into his nonsense. “Why do you say lesbian league?,” he asked. “I mean, I don’t know anything about the sexuality of any of the girls in the WNBA.”
Travis responded with a bogus figure, claiming that 70% of players in the league identify as lesbian.
“I think [Clark] having a boyfriend, I think it’s a fiancé, who by the way said there needs to be an enforcer, creates two different identity politics universes that she doesn’t fit in in this league,” he offered. “They don’t like her cause she’s white and they don’t like her cause she’s straight.”
Clay Travis claims Caitlin Clark is a victim of discrimination against “white heterosexual women in a black lesbian league” pic.twitter.com/vvwexzPCV3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 4, 2024
With the WNBA season lasting through October, the Clark hot takes are only getting started (yikes)! And expect the discourse to only get stupider.
Related: Half of USA Olympic women’s basketball team is LGBTQ. Caitlin Clark is off the roster.
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