The WNBA ‘felt like a lifeline’ for LGBTQ+ fans. Anti-trans attacks are testing that refuge.

Irene Vázquez found the WNBA at just the right time. It was the summer of 2020, and emergency pandemic guidelines had kept them physically separated from their friends and support system for months. The National Women’s Soccer League had just wrapped its Challenge Cup, and Vázquez, a longtime fan, needed a new outlet. On a…