NBA and WNBA Embrace Gender Ideology Program Banning Word ‘Girls’

Liberty Check

• The NBA and WNBA have endorsed a curriculum that instructs facilitators to stop calling young female participants ‘girls’.
• Public school districts are adopting the program without clear parental consent or full curriculum review.
• Taxpayer-funded leagues are prioritizing gender ideology over biological reality and parental rights.

The NBA and WNBA have spent more than a decade partnering with Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In organization. That relationship now includes pushing a leadership program aimed at girls as young as 11 years old.

There’s just one problem: The facilitator handbook tells adults running the program not to call the participants ‘girls.’

Lean In Girls, which the leagues proudly support, includes guidance for children exploring their gender identity. Facilitators are told to encourage pronoun sharing and use gender-neutral language.

The handbook also teaches about ‘social power’ and ‘active allyship,’ instructing adults how to help children recognize and challenge societal biases.

The NBA’s 2022-23 Social Impact Report shows the WNBA worked with Lean In for eight years. Early campaigns focused on gender equality and encouraging men to support women. By 2024 the partnership expanded to include Lean In Girls.

That year the leagues joined WNBA star Aliyah Boston for a campaign urging girls to reject stereotypes and embrace their ‘leadership superpowers.’

On April 20, 2026, the NBA released a video calling Lean In Girls a ‘free, school-ready’ program backed by both leagues. Promotional ads continue to air during WNBA broadcasts.

The WNBA also teamed up with Flau’jae Johnson. Lean In’s website states that Johnson and the league are proud to support the initiative.

Lean In describes the program as free and designed for girls ages 11-15. It can be used in schools and community organizations nationwide.

OutKick obtained the 2023 Lean In Girls Facilitator Handbook through parental-rights group Courage Is A Habit. The handbook says the program is for girls and young teenagers who ‘identify with the girlhood experience.’

One section titled ‘Gender inclusion’ explains that some participants may feel uncomfortable with the label ‘girl.’ It states: ‘When you greet your group or refer to them as a whole, avoid calling them girls or guys.’

Facilitators are told to use terms such as ‘everyone,’ ‘folks,’ ‘leaders’ and ‘team’ instead. The handbook also encourages pronoun sharing and suggests substituting they/them pronouns into fictional scenarios.

Another section tells facilitators to consider how identities affect ‘social power.’ Adults, wealthy people and able-bodied individuals are said to have more power than teenagers, people in poverty and those with disabilities.

The handbook pushes facilitators to create a ‘brave space’ where teenagers can ‘contend with injustice’ and practice ‘active allyship.’

Records show Santa Clara Unified School District brought Lean In Girls into Buchser Middle School. Officials planned to expand the program to four additional middle schools.

At the district’s Spring 2025 Equity Convening, Buchser counselor Brenda Goldstein and vice principal Gilbert Montiel presented the program as a ‘Tier 2 Intervention’ for targeted student support.

Recruitment materials promoted confidence-building and leadership activities, including confronting bias and challenging stereotypes. Parents were not clearly informed about the gender-identity guidance or pronoun requirements.

The district never answered questions about which schools ultimately ran the program or whether Parts 3 and 4 of the curriculum were reviewed. It also failed to confirm whether participation was voluntary or required affirmative parental consent.

In July, OutKick reported that the WNBA selected another group, Girls in the Game, as a beneficiary of its All-Star Game charitable initiative. That organization claims it is ‘moving beyond the binary of girl’ and welcomes gender-expansive participants.

The NBA and WNBA publicly endorsed Lean In Girls as ‘school-ready’ without providing evidence they reviewed the full curriculum. The leagues have offered no substantive answers about the gender-identity guidance or parental notification.

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