Three-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Nancy Hogshead has launched a Change.org petition calling on the WNBA to explicitly restrict player eligibility to biological females. The petition, initiated on August 14, 2026, has already collected more than 11,000 signatures.

Hogshead told Fox News Digital, "We’re calling for the WNBA to clarify that its eligibility rules are for women only." She emphasized, "If you wanna participate, you have to be a certain age, and you have to be a female." Hogshead expressed hope that the petition will ultimately reach 100,000 signatures, noting, "It’s an 80/20 issue across the country, so we can do it."

The debate over eligibility 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.

The WNBA has stated there are "no immediate eligibility matters" affecting the league and condemned "bad-faith efforts" to use the debate to "demean or marginalize others." Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said league officials would continue discussions with the players’ union and other stakeholders.

The petition and ongoing debate come amid heightened public engagement, with Hogshead noting, "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."

Sources