Arizona coach Becky Burke responds after activist attacks pregnancy announcement
Arizona women’s basketball coach Becky Burke faced backlash after announcing her wife’s pregnancy on X, drawing public attacks from activist Katy Faust. Faust, who leads groups seeking to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges, posted remarks aimed at Burke’s unborn chi
When Arizona women’s basketball coach Becky Burke shared a personal milestone on X—“Baby girl coming December, 2026!”—she expected support from the basketball world.
Instead, she watched the post pull in hundreds of negative comments and a targeted quote-tweet from an activist pushing to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Burke’s initial “Burke family update” post on June 8 quickly went viral. Nearly one million people viewed it, with more than 200 commenting or quote-tweeting it. After the backlash intensified, Burke briefly made her X account private this week.
The attack came from Katy Faust, the founder of a non-profit group that believes same-sex couples should not be allowed to be parents. Faust also leads another group that describes itself as “the defenders of children,” but more broadly seeks to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges.
On Monday, Faust used both of those platforms to direct her nearly 50,000 followers on X toward Burke. Speaking about Burke’s son and soon-to-be-born daughter. Faust wrote that “These two children will likely: Hunger for paternal love. gravitate toward coaches. and overstay their welcome at the homes of friends who have dads.” She added that “Some will be so desperate for male connection that they become easy targets for predators.”.
Faust ended her quote-tweet by calling for action: “That’s why we must #OverturnObergefell.”
On Wednesday. Burke responded with a statement that opened: “Our happiness isn’t yours to prove.” She then wrote. “Let me be very clear. Our announcement is about something much bigger than us. Representation matters. Visibility matters. As a public figure, I take great pride in representing my community and helping create that visibility.”.
Burke said the message was “for people who have spent years wondering whether a future like this was possible for them,” and she closed with a defiant line: “… I will not let hate win.”
Among the first to publicly support her was Stephanie Norman, an associate head coach at Arizona State and the coach who worked with Burke when Burke played at Louisville. Norman wrote, “We may be rivals, but she is my player and my friend. She and Savannah are amazing parents!”
Burke is one of just a handful of openly gay head women’s basketball coaches at the Power 4 level. The others named in the wake of her post were North Carolina’s Courtney Banghart and Iowa’s Jan Jensen.
The dispute comes as Burke settles into her role as head coach at Arizona. She is entering her second season at the program. Before Arizona. she coached at USC Upstate—where she was the Big South Coach of the Year in 2022—and at Buffalo. At Buffalo, she won 30 games and led the team to the WNIT in the 2024-25 season.
Her basketball background dates back to her time at Louisville, where she helped Jeff Walz’s Cardinals reach the 2009 Final Four—the first in the program’s history.
The sequence on X has turned a family announcement into a referendum on visibility in sports. with Burke insisting the point is not personal spectacle but representation. Her response arrives after an activist framed her children in harsh. political terms—then followed that framing with a direct call to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges, even as Burke and fellow coaches rallied behind her.
Becky Burke Arizona women’s basketball Obergefell v. Hodges Katy Faust X activism pregnancy announcement representation Louisville WNBA Draft