Women & Sport: As sports icons call for gun laws, female athletes have long been activists

For two minutes and forty-eight seconds, Golden State Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr gave a passionate plea ahead of the NBA Conference Finals. On the same day of the Uvalde massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead, Kerr demanded change.

“In the last 10 days, we’ve had elderly Black people killed in Buffalo, Asian churchgoers killed in Southern California and now we have children murdered at school,” Kerr said, slamming his open palm on the table before him. As his voice shook, he asked: “When are we going to do something?”

That viral moment set off a wave of demonstrations in the sports world — from the NBA to Major League Baseball, the NWSL to the WNBA. And everywhere in between. As the NBA Finals between the Warriors and Boston Celtics resumes Friday, players remain persistent. They've shown up to warm-ups and press conferences with orange shirts that read “end gun violence,” keeping reform top of mind on one of sports' biggest stages.

This cycle is not new. Athletes have been using their platforms to protest social injustices and drive change for decades. In the world of women’s sports especially, athletes have long made this type of call for action — with athletes’ demands even leading to meaningful change in recent years.

Hours after Kerr’s passionate plea, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics had a media blackout during their post-game media availability. The team’s Natasha Cloud addressed reporters, calling on fans listening to write to their local politicians to demand change, echoing a similar call for action made by the team in 2020.

“This game doesn't matter,” Cloud said. “The [21] lives that were lost today from senseless gun violence in Texas, at an elementary school — we're talking about our kids not being safe to go to school and our government is still not implementing sensible gun laws. This isn't about taking people's rights away from bearing arms. This is about putting sensible gun laws in, so this doesn't happen again.”

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Several teams in the WNBA and NWSL, which are mid-season, also wore orange shirts on Wear Orange Day to raise awareness around gun violence.

In women’s sports, progressive agendas have become the standard. In many modern-day instances, athletes are now holding their own organizations accountable.

It was the players on the Atlanta Dream that helped Reverend Raphael Warnock unseat incumbent Kelly Loeffler in Georgia’s Senate runoff election in 2021. Loeffler was a co-owner of the team at the time. She publicly condemned the Black Lives Matter movement and urged the WNBA to not support players’ on-court protests. Players quickly arrived with “VOTE WARNOCK” shirts to games.

What’s unique about professional women’s teams is that fans join players in putting pressure on organizations that behave badly. During the 2021 season of the NWSL, fans brought signs to games that made specific demands — such as paying players living wages, protecting players from abuse and even selling one team to its minority owner.

The reality is protest and change are a pillar of women’s sports. That’s because, in the past, a girl or woman simply playing a sport was a form of protest in itself. As in 1967, when Kathrine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, even as a race director was captured on camera trying to throw her out of the race in a now iconic photo. Or in 1973, when 90 million people watched Billie Jean King defeat Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes.

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There are countless examples in the history of women’s athletics like this, and even more stories that likely still remain untold. And if history is any proof, when women demand change, they get it — let's hope these latest demands will be met with action.

Women & Sport is a new NorthJersey.com column devoted to female athletes from the rec league level to those in college and the pros. If you've got a tip on an athlete from North Jersey who should be noted in the column, no matter how young they are or how old, please drop me a line at anzidei@northjersey.com.

Melanie Anzidei is a reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: anzidei@northjersey.com

Twitter: @melanieanzidei 

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Gun control laws: Female athletes continue to be activists