Riley Gaines called WNBA fans in Minneapolis a ‘bunch of disgruntled lesbians’

In September 2026, a claim circulated online that former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who is now a conservative pundit, called Women’s National Basketball Association fans in Minneapolis “a bunch of disgruntled lesbians.” 

The purported quote spread on X (archived), Facebook and Instagram (archived), along with clips of Gaines. She reportedly said:

I went to the WNBA game in Minneapolis… it was a bunch of disgruntled lesbians. It felt like the entire arena was booing Sophie Cunningham.

Gaines did indeed make the above remarks on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show” on Sept. 5. As such, we’ve rated this claim as a correct attribution. 

Gaines was responding to a question from host Tomi Lahren, who asked why the WNBA wouldn’t define a “woman.” We have reproduced the exchange below (emphasis ours):

Lahren: …but what I find here so interesting is the WNBA with a “W” in their name, they won’t define a woman. And I can’t figure out if it’s because they have players that are currently playing that wouldn’t fit that definition … or is it because they don’t want to anger what they feel is a large part of their fanbase that is LGBTQ? Or is it a little bit of both? 

Gaines: I’m sure it’s a little bit of both. I can tell you. I went to the WNBA game in Minneapolis. Which you can expect … what the fanbase as it pertains to the WNBA in that city looks like. And it was a bunch of, like, disgruntled lesbians. And I think that the WNBA as a league, organizationally they recognize that. It felt like virtually everyone in that arena, first of all, you audibly heard it, anytime Sophie was subbed in, stepped on the court, touched the ball, threw up a shot, her name was announced on the loudspeakers … you heard the entire arena boo. It felt like they had been advised to only put people on the jumbotron who were draped in their trans flag … And the general public knows that is not indicative of real life. 

The full episode has been archived and the exchange takes place after 2:38 p.m. 

Gaines was referring to Sophie Cunningham, a WNBA player with the Indiana Fever, who has expressed opposition to transgender players’ participation in women’s sports. Gaines and Cunningham have also been photographed (archived) together. 

For further reading, Snopes has covered numerous satirical posts and claims about Gaines.

Sources