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A former National Basketball Association center has announced his eligibility to play in the Women's National Basketball Association.Enes Kanter Freedom posted a video of himself Friday dressed in a WNBA hoodie and saying he was not intending to mock anyone's personal choices with his announcement.'I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone — the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for.'"After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect," wrote Freedom in a statement on social media."If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA," he added. "My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion. Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027."Freedom is a human rights activist and has spoken out against the regime in Turkey, his home country, as well as the communist government of China. In 2021, he changed his name to add "Freedom" after gaining his U.S. citizenship in order to cement his commitment against despotism."I know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions. I am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices," he continued. "I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone — the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for."Freedom did not mention transgender-identifying athletes in his statement and did not declare himself transgender. The 34-year-old former NBA center stands 6'10'', according to Basketball Reference.Freedom's announcement follows statements from players such as Gabby Williams, who has worn a shirt reading "Black Trans Lives Matter," according to a Thursday X post.Williams in May said she would welcome a transgender-identifying person on her team. RELATED: Former NBA player Enes Freedom quips about donning a wig and competing in the WNBA Freedom previously stated his opposition to men pretending to be women and playing in the WNBA. He called out feminists and women's rights activists on their silence about the issue. He finished his statement by calling on the WNBA to live up to its stated principles of inclusion."See you at training camp," he concluded.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

For three decades, William Allen lived as “Maggie,” believing that transitioning was the answer to feelings that had followed him since childhood. He also believed that while he was pretending to be a woman, he was a Christian.Today, however, the author of “Not Man Enough to Be a Woman” tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey that he began to change his mind when he realized how dramatically the transgender movement was changing.“Back in the day, it was called gender identity disorder. There were transvestites and transsexuals. Transvestites just were men who dressed up as women for sexual gratification. They didn’t want to be a woman,” Allen tells Stuckey.“Transsexuals actually either felt they were a woman or wanted to be a woman,” he continues, noting that all transsexuals wanted to do “was transition and blend into society and get on with our lives.”“The last thing we wanted was attention, very unlike what we see today,” he says. “I mean, we took care in our presentation. I mean, I had my beard removed with electrolysis. I went to a voice coach. I was able to retrain my voice.”“And my gosh, today it’s just so in your face. The movement, they’re militant. They’re demanding. They’re coercive. It’s just gotten so out of hand,” he says.And years ago, when Allen was still living as “Maggie,” he heard about drag queen story hours and looked into it.“I saw a news report or something, and it talked about drag queens reading books to children. I thought, ‘Oh, that can’t be right. That’s not happening.’ But I kept hearing about it. Sure enough, it was happening. Of course, people would deny it,” he tells Stuckey.“And that same thing keeps happening. It went from drag queen story hour to bringing these books into the classrooms and into school libraries, elementary school kids, and then indoctrination and now a whole bunch of teachers. Teachers who are trans and gay now are influencing children,” he adds.And when Allen went to a support group meeting for transsexuals, what he saw was “horrifying.”“I went on in, and everybody in there — probably 20, 30 people — they’re all dressed just like the people you see in all the Antifa riots and the BLM riots. They’re all tatted and pierced and multicolored hair and stuff,” he explains.“I walked in there as Miss Maggie, and ... it came around to me. And I just said, ‘My name’s Maggie,’ and I started talking, and they all screamed at me, ‘Pronouns!’ And this was my first exposure to this pronoun hysteria,” he says.“It had taken such a turn,” he adds.Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

An appeals court ruled against the Trump administration and blocked the construction of the White House ballroom on the basis that it was not properly approved.President Donald Trump has urged the speedy construction of the ballroom after the alleged attempt on his life at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April.'The bold assertion that the Executive can act with utter lawlessness, destroying treasured national landmarks and harming the interests of individuals, and that no court can stop it flouts our constitutional order.'On Friday, an appeals court ruled in a 2-1 decision that the president had acted "lawlessly" by demolishing the East Wing of the White House in order to build the ballroom without congressional approval."Executive actions that take control of that property out of the hands of the people's representatives while irreparably harming the historical and visual architecture of perhaps the most prominent public building in the United States seriously intrude on the public interest," two judges wrote in the joint majority opinion.However, the administration has two weeks to seek relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.If the court does not intervene, above-ground construction at the White House would need to stop.RELATED: Liz Warren launches investigation into Trump's White House ballroom — the backlash is hilarious The president has argued that security concerns necessitated the construction of the ballroom with increased law enforcement features. The appeals court found that these concerns could have been addressed without ignoring federal statutes on project funding."The bold assertion that the Executive can act with utter lawlessness, destroying treasured national landmarks and harming the interests of individuals, and that no court can stop it flouts our constitutional order," the two judges said. "While this court accords great weight and deference to invocations of national security and the safety of the President, such arguments are not an automatic get-out-of-law-free card," they continued.In her dissenting opinion, Judge Neomi Rao agreed with the administration and said the security concerns outweighed the legal concerns brought up by the plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation.The group praised the decision in a statement, citing the 250th anniversary of the country."This is a great day for our country and for the American people's right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish, including the White House," the trust said. "From the beginning, our position has been clear and consistent: The law states that only Congress can authorize the construction of a ballroom at the White House."While the president has touted the private money being used to construct the ballroom, the contractor has since said the budget has surged to $600 million, according to a Washington Post report. The gap will reportedly be filled in by taxpayer funding. The two judges who ruled against the ballroom were Patricia Millett, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, and Bradley Garcia, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden.Judge Neomi Rao is a Trump appointee.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

An underwater videographer may have a new job as a pirate after he discovered a sunken treasure off the coast of England.While exploring a shipwreck near Dover, England, a Belgian named Stefan Panis found what appeared to be a piece of cargo that has been overlooked for more than 160 years.'There might be more cases.'Beer gogglesIn the depths of the wreck of an English ship called the Mindora, Panis found a treasure that is likely to please historians and beer drinkers alike: bottles of Guinness from 1864. The Irish Times reported that Panis found up to 20 bottles of the stout in 2025, but only recently connected the bottles to the ship wreckage via a cargo report.Panis told the BBC that the beer is now with scientists who are studying to see if it is still drinkable, with the photographer citing that the same team previously tested a bottle of champagne that is just as old and was still OK to consume.It depends on whether or not "sea water has come into the bottle through the corks," Panis said.At the same time though, the 162-year-old beer is also the focus of a different project for Panis and his Polish cohort Paweł Truszynski, which they are calling "Project Jurassic Beer."The duo is having the contents of the Guinness bottles analyzed to see if they can recreate the original recipe.RELATED: God save the English pub Vincent Isore/IP3/Getty Images Bottoms upWith the help of a microbiologist from Brussels, the group wants to recreate exactly how the beer would have tasted in 1864. Professor Kevin Verstrepen said this comes down to the yeast cells in the bottle; the group will try to retrieve living cells, but if they can't, they will take a "modern sibling" to get as close to the original as possible.Diageo, parent company of Guinness, told the Irish Times that the Guinness Archive team "has been in communication with the divers to gather more information and evaluate the find.""Discoveries like this provide a fascinating window into our past and help build a deeper understanding of our heritage," the spokesperson added.As for the case of beer, Panis believes the bottles "definitely" came from a case of 24."But there might be more cases," he claimed.RELATED: Boys will be boys: Shane Gillis' record-breaking Philadelphia show was more than just a comedy set Secret stashThe diver said that the Mindora has been searched throughout the last decade, but the beer somehow went undetected. He theorized this was likely due to sand covering his discoveries, which also reportedly included items like pickled vegetables.The Mindora set sail from London to Vancouver, Canada, in November 1864, and traveled for approximately a week before it allegedly collided with another vessel off the coast of Dover on November 27.Not much of the recent discovery is verified, as Panis' team did not make their dive in cooperation with official authorities."The story of the shipwreck is never-ending," Panis said, adding that pieces of history "appear one year and disappear the next year."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!