Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has officially been stripped of her championship titles as Donald Trump’s crackdown on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports continues.
The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to strip Thomas of her titles, and to block transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports in future.
What’s more, Trump also insisted that the University of Pennsylvania issues an apology to the biological women who lost to Lia Thomas.
UPenn will be required to restore all their Division I swimming records and titles to the women who were overtaken by Thomas, essentially scrubbing her from the record books.
The University finally agreed to do what Trump says after the Trump administration cut off $175 million in federal funds. Yep, that’ll do it.
In fact UPenn’s website has already been updated to show the newly-recognised winners from these events, with Lia Thomas’ record times revoked.
The website stated: “Competing under eligibility rules in effect at the time, Lia Thomas set program records in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle during the 2021-22 season.”
Penn President J. Larry Jameson added: “While Penn’s policies during the 2021-2022 swim season were in accordance with NCAA eligibility rules at the time, we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules. We recognise this and will apologise to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
Personalised apology letters were also sent out to every female athlete who competed against Thomas, with Jameson assuring that the school will always respect changes to eligibility guidelines, which were altered massively earlier this year after Trump started his second term as president.
Among those receiving apologies were the three ladies in the image below, who finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th after Lia Thomas trounced them in the 500-yard freestyle a couple years back:
Meanwhile, education secretary Linda McMahon (yes, Vince McMahon’s wife) called it a victory for women and girls in a statement.
She said: “The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s (the prohibition of sex-based discrimination in schools or educational establishments) proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law.”
So what does this mean for transgender athletes in competitive swimming and other sports going forward? Well, I suppose they’re going to have to compete with their biological counterparts, or maybe they’ll have to start a separate transgender category? I don’t know. What I do know is that women deserve to compete on a level playing field and have a fair chance to succeed in sport. If a person wants to identify as a gender that’s different from their biological sex, that’s their choice and no big deal. As far as sports are concerned, it only seems reasonable that we compete based on our biological sex and not our social identity.
Never forget:
Penn’s Lia Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships.
Thomas becomes the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship in any sport.
Full story from @katie_barnes3: https://t.co/mYzU5uBDpS pic.twitter.com/zgmIEgKO5x
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For the British comedian who was under investigation for a ‘transphobic’ joke at a London comedy club, click HERE.
