Softball player opens up on vile abuse from pro-trans activists at Sophie Cunningham rally amid WNBA culture war

NCAA softball player Kendall Kotzmacher has detailed the vile abuse she faced from pro-trans activists while attending a Sophie Cunningham rally in Minneapolis. 

Kotzmacher, who is set to play for Colorado Christian this upcoming season, traveled to Minneapolis to stand alongside activists Riley Gaines, Michelle Tafoya, and Jennifer Sey ahead of the Indiana Fever’s matchup against the Minnesota Lynx.

The rally marked the third demonstration in a week supporting Cunningham, following her public remarks advocating for restrictions on transgender participation in female athletics to ‘protect young girls in sport.’

Speaking after the demonstration, Kotzmacher said that pro-trans activists swarmed the group with megaphones, unleashing personal attacks in front of her family.

‘He had a megaphone and was just yelling everything about how awful people we are. At one point, I got told that I should’ve been aborted when I was younger,’ Kotzmacher told Fox News Digital.

Kotzmacher noted that while she has previously received hostile messages and death threats online after speaking out about competing against a transgender athlete in high school, Sunday’s rally marked the first time she faced aggression in person.

‘They have no rebuttal to what we’re standing for,’ Kotzmacher added. ‘They have nothing to go against what we’re trying to say, and so they just go back to calling us names.’

The confrontation grew physical as prominent activist Riley Gaines arrived near the arena. Kotzmacher alleged that police officers standing nearby failed to step in when counterprotesters began crowding the group, forcing a male bystander to intervene.

‘A man, just a bystander, had to push him out of the way while the cops watched all this happen,’ she said.

The tension outside carried over into the arena during the game, where Cunningham was met with loud boos whenever she touched the ball.

Kotzmacher also criticized arena operations inside Target Center, alleging that the venue intentionally showcased fans wearing pro-trans clothing and signs while avoiding showing supporters in Cunningham merchandise.

‘Every time that the jumbotron was on, it was showing people with pro-trans signs or shirts, or anything like that, of them cheering,’ Kotzmacher said. ‘Even when Sophie was getting booed, they would put the jumbotron on people booing her.’

Despite the hostility, Kotzmacher, who previously lost a state high school softball championship to a team featuring a transgender pitcher – insisted that the crowd inside was largely supportive of their message once attendees entered the venue.

‘Once we got in there, most people stopped,’ Kotzmacher said. ‘So many people stopped us to say, ‘This is great what you’re doing,’ or even to take pictures with Riley. So once we got in, it was really supportive.’

Elsewhere on the day, Gaines claimed that WNBA officials attempted to shut down her support for Cunningham after bringing a sign praising the Indiana Fever star. 

The sign read: ‘Sophie, Thank You – A Girl Mom.’

However, during the game, retired gymnast and friend of Gaines, Jennifer Sey, revealed that the political activist had been told to put her sign down by staff. 

Gaines swiftly reposted Sey’s post on X and added: ‘There were no fewer than 1000 signs in the arena. Most with trans paraphernalia. The only person who was told to put her sign down by WNBA officials was me. Wonder why.’

She later told OutKick: ‘I checked all the sign policies before I went in there. I made sure it was like 11 by 17. That’s the sign size you could have. So, I got a ruler out.’

Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer, went on to detail how she held her sign aloft during the game – only to be swiftly shut down by a staffer, despite other fan signs. 

She recalled: ‘I see an arena staffer, someone who’s on the court wearing the all-black official clothing, who points at me and mouths something. I can’t hear him because he’s so far away, but he appeared to say, ‘Put your sign down.’ 

‘He comes over and he says, ‘You have to take your sign down.’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t. I checked all the sign policies before I went in there,’ Gaines said. 

After asking why she couldn’t show her sign, she explained: ‘He said, ‘Because it has her name on it. It has Sophie’s name on it, so you can’t have that’. 

‘My whole section at that point, they were outraged. They were like, ‘You can’t tell her she can’t have that. There’s a hundred signs right here with people’s names on it. What do you mean she can’t have it?’ 

She later revealed that the staffer came back and apologized over the matter.

In the end, Gaines was able to keep hold of her sign and even had Cunningham hold it as they posed for a courtside picture together after the Lynx’s 108-100 win.

Gaines, Cunningham and Sey all posed together, with the two supporters performing Cunningham’s now-iconic ‘point’ towards the camera. 

Gaines also shared a picture with Cunningham on Instagram, writing: ‘I show up for @sophie_cham because she shows up for my daughter.’

Though she didn’t comment on it, the Fever star did take time to like Gaines’ post.