A Washington state high school athlete who was allegedly berated by a Seattle Storm co-owner during a WNBA game says she is relieved the league responded quickly, even as the ensuing backlash has upended her family's life.
Ahnaleigh Wilson, a rising junior cross country runner, went viral this week after an exchange with Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton, who was suspended by the WNBA over the incident. Wilson said she and a friend were sitting courtside at Climate Pledge Arena during Tuesday night's game against the Indiana Fever when Keaton approached them and called them «f—ing insane» for supporting Sophie Cunningham's public stance on protecting girls' sports.
«I'm glad that the WNBA stepped in and decided to at least do something about it, and they did something about it quickly,» Wilson said. «It was good to see that they kind of put some kind of punishment into place.»
Wilson was not prepared for the public attention that followed. The teenager said she was stunned by the confrontation and began to cry, partly because the issue is deeply personal for her.
Washington is one of 19 U.S. states that allow biological males to compete in girls' sports. Wilson said that in May 2024, as an eighth grader, she lost a regional championship race to a biological male transgender athlete after working her way back from a knee injury. She said she held the lead until the final lap before the athlete passed her for first place. During the past school year, she said, she competed against a male athlete four times in cross country.
«They don't know my story,» Wilson said. «They don't know that I've actually experienced this, and I've experienced it more than once. I'm going to junior year now, and I've competed against a biological male four times. These people don't even know what I've gone through. It's disappointing, especially when it's other women.»
Wilson attended the WNBA game for the first time specifically to support Cunningham, who has taken a public stand in favor of protecting girls' sports. She also attended a rally outside Climate Pledge Arena in celebration of the player. But once inside the arena, Wilson said she was heckled by other fans before Keaton confronted her.
The incident was captured in a since-viral interview with independent Washington-based journalist Brandi Kruse shortly after the game. By the next morning, Wilson said, her friend's Instagram feed was filled with posts about the incident, followed by national media coverage and the WNBA's announcement of Keaton's suspension.
«It was crazy,» Wilson said. «I was expecting it, obviously, to kind of be big because it is a WNBA co-owner of the Seattle Storm and she was rude, but I guess I wasn't expecting it to blow up that quick. It was pretty shocking. A little overwhelming, but also I was glad that the WNBA did something about it.»
Her father, Brendan Wilson, said the family knew Ahnaleigh's courtside sign might attract some attention. They expected a photograph of her supporting Cunningham to circulate, not for their daughter to become the face of a national controversy.
«She was going there with the intention of supporting Sophie and glad that somebody of Sophie's stature was supporting Ahnaleigh,» Brendan Wilson said. «She kind of expected her picture might be somewhere, that she was sitting courtside with a sign in support, but nothing of this magnitude at all.»
As the story spread, strangers found photographs of Wilson and began directing insults at the teenager and her family. Her mother, Elizabeth Wilson, said the family has received hateful comments alongside supportive messages.
«Our daughter's face is plastered everywhere,» Elizabeth Wilson said. «We are getting comments of hate. A lot of support, though, too, but this has exploded, and her actions have now impacted our family greatly and will continue to do so.»
Wilson said she has tried to avoid reading the responses. Some messages have accused her of being bigoted, transphobic and anti-trans. One commenter dismissed her as a «stupid white girl,» she said.
«If you know me, you know I'm not any of those things and that I do care about people,» Wilson said. «I'm okay with people being different and being different from me.»
Wilson said her family has LGBTQ friends and relatives, and she described her position as focused on the competitive consequences of allowing biological males into girls' sports, not on hostility toward transgender people.
«Those people don't know me, and they don't know that I love everyone,» she said. «I don't have an issue with people being trans. It's just that it's unfair when it comes to girls' competition.»
