Angel City center back and captain Sarah Gorden and goalkeeper Angelina Anderson spoke out on Thursday, opening their gameday press conference by addressing Monday's New York Post op-ed penned by teammate Elizabeth Eddy that urged the NWSL to adopt a "clear standard" for gender eligibility.
"Questions and controversy abound over intersex and transgender athletes," Eddy wrote, suggesting the league require players be "born with ovaries" or undergo genetic testing, with a photo of Orlando Pride and Zambia striker Barbra Banda — who faced fan harassment earlier this year — as the lead image.
The article — and its originating tweet — provoked backlash online, with Angel City issuing a statement on Tuesday saying the op-ed "does not reflect the opinion of an entire organization," and that the team "has remained committed to equity, inclusion, and belonging."
ACFC captain Gorden used stronger language, saying that the article directly caused her teammates "hurt" and "harm."
"We don't agree with the things written for a plethora of reasons, but mostly the undertones come across as transphobic and racist," Gorden, who has a history of addressing social justice issues, told reporters.
Gender policy abandonment "invites harassment" of NWSL players
After quietly abandoning a 2021 policy that deemed all transwomen eligible so long as their testosterone levels mirrored those assigned female at birth, the NWSL has failed to provide official gender eligibility guidelines in the three years since — though no current league athletes identify as trans.
"The league may have hoped its silence over this lack of policy would be taken as an openness to revisiting or reworking its approach, or at least neutrality when it comes to the inclusion of trans and intersex players," wrote The Athletic’s Meg Linehan in response.
"But the league and commissioner Jessica Berman's silence have instead repeatedly invited harassment of current players — to whom such a policy would not apply in any case — especially Black and queer players."
According to an NWSL Players Association spokesperson, collective bargaining — rather than the league itself — must determine all policy matters, including guidelines surrounding gender eligibility.
As for where the players union stands on the issue, the spokesperson told The Athletic that "Any position the NWSLPA takes…is and will be the product of a thoughtful, deliberate process that engages all our members and the issues that are important to them."
