What a victory for sanity — and for truth and fairness.
This week, the University of Pennsylvania apologized to female swimmers on their 2021-2022 roster who had to endure a season of changing next to a biological male in the locker room and competing with the strapping 6 foot 1 athlete Lia, formerly Will, Thomas.
They also restored any school records broken by Thomas, who became the first transgender athlete to win a division 1 NCAA title.
This wasn’t some heartfelt moral reckoning, rather to resolve a US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights investigation into the school’s violation of Title IX for allowing a biological male to swim on the women’s team.
But still, it’s a win.
It’s poignant that this about face was forced by Thomas because he was the figure who took the debate of trans athletes in women’s sports from a niche issue to a full-on nuclear culture war battle.
This madness started relatively low key in 2017 when trans runner Andraya Yearwood took two titles in Connecticut high school girls track.
The following year, another trans runner, Terry Miller also ran girl’s track, and the pair’s participation and wins sparked a debate — and a long legal battle — over the state policy that allowed trans athletes to compete in women’s sports.
But in 2021, when broad-shouldered Thomas jumped into the pool to compete as a member of the women’s team, the issue was rightfully pushed to the national forefront.
Thomas was a member of the men’s team at UPenn for three years, then took off a year to transition. He met the NCAA’s hormone therapy requirements at the time, but was clearly a man amongst girls.
His physical advantage was undeniable. And it was ridiculous.
Not that many could vocalize it. At the time, athletes, including Thomas’ teammate Paula Scanlan, were told to shut up and put up. According to Scanlan, UPenn told its lady swimmers that his participation was a “non-negotiable,” and if they had any issues, they were provided with counseling services to “help” them “be OK with it.”
“The university wanted us to be quiet and they did it in a very effective way. They continued to tell us that our opinions were wrong and if we had an issue about it, we were the problem and it’s frightening and your future job is on the line,” she said.
Not only was it shameful to make them change in front of a male and have him crush other female swimmers in the pool, but an Ivy League institution squashing dissent from women in service of a confused man, was even more insane. It showed the school’s disconnect with their once prized liberal values.
But it wasn’t just UPenn. Thomas was celebrated across social media and in various outlets. In 2023, ESPN even included the trans athlete in their women’s history month segment.
In December of 2021, as Thomas was smashing records, a fed up Scanlan spoke to Outkick, but did so anonymously.
“Pretty much everyone individually has spoken to our coaches about not liking this,” she said at the time.
In March of that year, a group of Ivy League parents wrote an op-ed published in The Post speaking about the injustice. “Parents, coaches, swimmers, and rational, logical people know this is grossly unfair.” The group wrote anonymously to ‘protect their kids.”.
“Female swimmers have not consented to this. In fact, many of them expressly said no. What response did they receive?
Be quiet. A new ideology ruled. “Transwomen are women” no exceptions; the girls’ concerns: “transphobic,” the piece noted.
Even on twitter — this was months before Elon Musk bought the platform — people were shut down and cancelled for “misgendering.” Common sense discourse was verboten and more and more dominant trans athletes emerged in various sports, including cycling and track and field.
And yet some courageous voices emerged — and thankfully never shut up. Riley Gaines swam for the University of Kentucky and tied with Thomas for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA tournament. She took up the cause at great personal risk.
Simply by calling for fairness in women’s sports, she was instantly branded a transphobe and a bigot. Scanlan soon unmasked herself and joined Gaines. (And organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and Independent Women’s Forum provided wind at the movement’s back).
Now, close to 80% of Americans believe biological men shouldn’t play in women’s sports. But back then, to say such a thing was an act of courage and defiance.
They raised the red flags and started a tidal wave — and took loads of licks in the process.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
