Arena Threatens To Remove Mom And Daughter Sporting Pro-Girl Shirts
A mother and daughter attending Sunday’s WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream said arena security told them to cover T-shirts expressing support for women’s sports or leave the venue. Kasey Thomason and her daughter, Annie Thomason, attended the game at State Farm Arena in Atlanta wearing shirts associated with XX-XY Athletics, a […]
A mother and daughter attending Sunday’s WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream said arena security told them to cover T-shirts expressing support for women’s sports or leave the venue.
Kasey Thomason and her daughter, Annie Thomason, attended the game at State Farm Arena in Atlanta wearing shirts associated with XX-XY Athletics, a clothing company that promotes keeping women’s athletic competition limited to biological females. One of the shirts featured the phrase “For the Girls.”
The pair had seats just a few rows from the court and told conservative social media personality Adam Francisco afterward that they had paid roughly $1,000 per ticket.
The game itself was close, with the Fever eventually defeating the Dream 95-91 in overtime. But according to the Thomasons, the most memorable moment came late in the game when security approached them about their clothing.
Kasey said they were given promotional “Wellness Night” shirts and told they could either put them on over their own shirts or leave the arena.
“We were made to cover up our XX-XY shirts at this game,” she said after the game. “They gave us T-shirts during overtime and told us we had to leave or cover our shirts.”
Video from the ESPN broadcast reportedly showed the two women holding the replacement shirts during overtime before eventually putting them on.
The Thomasons also said another spectator was wearing a shirt supporting transgender rights. According to their account, that fan was also later required to cover her shirt. That detail suggests arena personnel may have been attempting to limit visible messaging about the broader debate over transgender participation in women’s sports rather than targeting only one side.
Still, the incident quickly became controversial because the Thomasons’ shirts did not appear to contain profanity, explicit language, or a direct personal attack.
State Farm Arena’s posted clothing rules prohibit garments or signs containing explicit language, profanity, or derogatory characterizations of individuals. The NBA Fan Code of Conduct also restricts obscene or indecent messages on clothing and signs.