Story perspectives

WNBA Rules Kanter, White Ineligible for Draft as Women

By Drooid · Sep 19, 2026, 11:56 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Three Republican House members wrote WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on September 17, 2026, requesting a definition of “women” for eligibility.
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced they would enter the 2027 WNBA draft as women.
The WNBA ruled both players ineligible because the agreement only permits women, which it has not defined.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar’s Change.org petition for a biological-woman eligibility rule has over 11,000 signatures.

History

Historical Context

In June 1972 Congress enacted Title IX, a civil-rights amendment drafted by Senator Birch Bayh and backed by Rep. Edith Green, banning sex discrimination in federally funded education; 42 percent of college students were female then. The law’s vague wording fuels fights over gender definition, from 2011 Obama guidance on LGBT students to the WNBA’s refusal to set an eligibility definition, reviving the same controversy.

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Story summary

Three Republican House members wrote WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on September 17, 2026, requesting a definition of “women” for eligibility.
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced they would enter the 2027 WNBA draft as women.
The WNBA ruled both players ineligible because the agreement only permits women, which it has not defined.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar’s Change.org petition for a biological-woman eligibility rule has over 11,000 signatures.

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