Commentary: Letter’s Lies and Spin Reveal NCAA Mishandling of Transgender, Lia Thomas Debate
Nearly two weeks have passed since Lia Thomas captured the 500-yard freestyle title at the NCAA Women’s Championships. As a transgender athlete, Thomas stirred controversy through her presence in Atlanta. Protesters on both sides of the issue made their arguments known – both inside and outside the McAuley Aquatics Center.
Supporters of Thomas noted that she followed the rules set forth by the NCAA and deserved the opportunity to compete as she identifies. The opposing argument states that Thomas, benefiting from male puberty and years of testosterone production, possessed an unfair advantage over biological females. In no way were Thomas’ races emblematic of fairness.
So, where does the issue go from here?
Let’s just say the NCAA isn’t interested with the concerns of those forced to compete against transgender athletes.
In a recent letter obtained by Swimming World, NCAA President Mark Emmert made it clear that the organization has no plans to alter its current guidelines on transgender participation, and the potential for transgender women to have physiological advantages over the competition. Yet, what made the letter a farce, was the way it was littered with falsehoods and misleading statements. Basically, Emmert offered a combination of lies and wrote with a smugness that, really, is a hallmark of the NCAA.
Since the Thomas controversy arose in early December, when the Penn swimmer produced a pair of nation-leading times, there have been numerous calls for the NCAA to protect women’s sports by not allowing male bodies into competition. However, those pleas have been rejected – whether they came from Champion Women, Ivy League athletes, or alums from various universities, including Texas, North Carolina and Arizona.
“Since Mark Emmert became the leader of the NCAA in 2010, the organization has never missed an opportunity to discriminate against women,” said Olympic champion Nancy Hogshead-Makar, the head of Champion Women. “Basketball player Sedona Prince’s viral TikTok video made it plain enough. In addition, Champion Women shared our cutting edge data with the association in 2020, showing that NCAA member schools were denying women over 128,000 opportunities to swim, play, run, throw and compete. Only half of NCAA schools sponsor our sport; that’s a LOT of new swimming teams. Worse, we showed how Mark Emmert’s tenure was marked by backtracking, that the gap between men and women had actually grown by 28% in the past 15 years. Since then, the NCAA has not lifted a finger to remedy the gaps at its member institutions.
“The NCAA has admitted that its current policy is not based on science; it knew that even before (Thomas) swam her first race. Nevertheless, the NCAA went ahead and allowed Lia Thomas to swim in the National Championships. Because it doesn’t value what women do.
“The swimming community came together to adopt transgender eligibility rules that prioritized fairness for biological women. And the NCAA rejected swimming’s rules. The NCAA could have prioritized fairness for women athletes, or it could have supported one athlete, Lia Thomas. Despite our efforts to persuade the NCAA’s Board of Governors with recent science demonstrating the failure of gender affirming hormones and exactly how Lia Thomas’ times demonstrated the science conclusions, the NCAA chose to put the weight of the organization behind one athlete with an unfair advantage.”
Let’s look at how Emmert’s letter is anything but genuine, and how it is a cover-up for the NCAA’s failure to treat women equally through its transgender-participation rules. The letter is a dismissal of expressed concerns, and a weak attempt to make the NCAA appear as if it cares about women’s sports and ensuring a level playing field is presented.
“As the top governing board of the NCAA, the Board of Governors firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student-athletes to compete in college sports.”
The line above makes it obvious that the NCAA is not going to act on this topic. It basically states that transgender athletes will have a place in collegiate athletics, so deal with it. It can be inferred, too, that the organization simply doesn’t want to touch this topic out of fear of being sued.
“The NCAA’s current policy is anchored in the evolving science on this issue and in the sport-specific policies of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s national governing bodies, of international federations and of the International Olympic Committee when relevant. Further, the policy provides the Board of Governors and the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports the opportunity to review and approve each policy to ensure it aligns with the core values of the NCAA. The resulting sport-by-sport approach preserves opportunities for transgender student-athletes while balancing fairness, inclusion and safety for all who compete.”
The above statement from the letter is a mix of lies and spin. The fact that Emmert says the NCAA’s transgender policy is anchored in science is ridiculous. The organization, when deeming Thomas eligible to compete for the Penn women’s team, only required a year’s worth of testosterone suppression. The science used to make that decision was a decade old.
Meanwhile, when Emmert notes that the NCAA’s transgender-participation policy is based on policies from national-governing bodies, that statement is a straight-up lie. When USA Swimming announced its strict policy on the topic in February, the NCAA quickly ran away from the guidelines. Initially, the NCAA said it would accept USA Swimming’s policy, only to reverse field when it did not like the rules and saw that Thomas would be ineligible according to those bylaws.
Finally, Emmert makes it clear that the NCAA can change any policy that doesn’t fit with its agenda. Why didn’t the NCAA just say: “We’re going to do what we want.”
“The NCAA Board of Governors expects that all student-athletes will be treated with dignity and respect. We are committed to ensuring that NCAA championships are open for all who earn the right to compete in them.”
This statement from Emmert might be the most insulting out of several asinine and offensive comments. If the NCAA indeed treated its athletes with dignity and respect, it would not have forced biological-female athletes to compete against an athlete with obvious advantages. In each of the three events in which Thomas advanced to the final, the meet was not fully open to the ninth-place and 17th-place finishers in those events. Because Thomas was allowed to compete, those athletes were denied true opportunities.
What Mark Emmert wrote in his letter was the latest evidence of the NCAA’s ignorance and who-cares attitude toward women’s sports. His words rang hollow, a mix of obvious lies – at minimum, misleading statements – and attempts at spin.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Great letter and great leadership. Thank you!
That letter was not great for women and women sports!
it doesn’t reflect well on the women’s sports, but it is helpful for biological women who are being forced to compete with a biological male.
This doesn’t just reflect poorly on women’s sports but it reflects poorly on all NCAA sports, including NCAA hockey, NCAA basketball etc etc. This is clearly not just a problem with women’s sports but all sports collegically and professional. We have a cultural problem. This goes far deeper than just women’s sports.
Not only is it a disadvantage but if it is a contact sport someone could get seriously hurt. They may say it’s sport by sport based but where is the line drawn. What guarantee do the female athletes have that the line won’t get moved.
PURE GARBAGE is what it is
Only if you are Transgender. When you go from being ranked hundreds of spots away from the top as a male to #1 competing as a female, something stinks.
He’ll yeah 100% fact
Jake, you are obviously a hate filled, bigoted, misogynist. Stop spreading hate.
Says the idiot calling somebody names for praising a well written article about some p.o.s BOY who couldn’t compete against MEN so it decides its gonna be a girl now and ruin many women’s lives because HE was never any good as a BOY. I hope your children lose as many opportunities to freakshows like that Thomas BOY so you can open your eyes
ridiculous to think she did all that to win at swimming – read her life story and you’ll see that isn’t true – shallow headline understanding – the only people who would undertake that would be those whose lifestyle told them they were the wrong sex outside – it is no trivial pursuit.
Caring about biological females and their opportunities, as is the purpose of title ix, is not hate. Everyone makes choices that have consequences. Except females don’t get to wake up and chose to be 20% larger and more powerful. Sports are divided by age, sex, and level for a reason. Is it agist bigotry not to let baby boomers play against children? No it’s not. Same applies to females sports. It’s disengaging to insert these huge disparities in females sports. Even before college, long before the rules on hormones apply, it’s recklessly unsafe—and girls are/ will be dissuaded to carry on in sports.
Amen
Just cause someone says something u don’t like ur going to say oh ur a bigot or whatever no it’s true they swam for 3 yrs in the men’s ranked 400th in nation or so and then went against women and won that’s facts not attacking anyone
The NCAA has chosen inclusion over integrity and fairness in sport. This is their latest social and cultural engineering plan; except the victims in this case are half of NCAA membership. This time leadership in the NCAA has misjudged their calculus on how much membership and the public is willing to accept.
Is it true that Thomas still has male parts? If so that should disqualify Thomas on that part alone.
If a guy cuts his dick off he’s still a guy…just without a dick.
Born with a Dick, You are not a chick.
But humans are not – just a body. In her brain Lia knows, she’s a girl.
STOP!! HIS BACK IS WIDE AS THE OCEAN!! HE’S A NAN
That’s great!!!!
Yes she does. Not only that but she has been allowed to shower and use female locker rooms. Even though several of the girls expressed being uncomfortable with this. The school basically told them to shut up and deal with it.
Any man transitioning to the opposite sex should not be allowed in women’s changing rooms unless they have the same genitalia.,Call the police and file a complaint
There s no way become the opposite sex. He may remove all the trappings but a man he will still be. You can cut all the limbs off of a tree but a tree it will always be
Not a she
Exactly my question is why did he or she wait so long to be a transgender to woman’s swimming. Oh I think it’s because he got sick of loosing by men swimmers. Cheater
you hit the nail on the head. Thomas sucked as a male swimmer. Ranked somewhere around I think they said 274 may have been even lower.
I saw where it was in the 400s
Fact
I’d tell the school to “shut up and deal with it”
Stop saying she. William Thomas is a man, and always will be. There’s no “transitioning” your sex any more than you can change your race. He is a man. End of story.
Yeah how scary is that so I could go into girls restrooms and locker rooms as long as I identify as a woman!!! that’s insanity
Yes.
He displays them proudly in the changing room apparently.
It’s probably tiny
Haha that’s great
YES,He still has his “junk”
An article a few months ago quoted his teammates ( yes HIS) as saying he was anatomically male and even became excited around the other women in the locker room he got to share with them before and after swimming!
Love to see the NCAA defend themselves in a EEOC lawsuit. That would be very telling.
They would win, but what’s legal isn’t always right.
The law has never been oriented toward finding the truth. Just who presents the better argument.
Many times the law is indeed based on who presents the better argument, but ALWAYS on the views of the jury who hears it.
Mark Emmett needs to be fired
And sent packing with a swift kick in the azz
Why wasn’t Mark Emmett fired a long time ago? What hold does he have over the NCAA?
Is the NCAA no longer using the phased approach on introducing the USA Swimming rules?
I hope that a coalition of athletes and or participating schools sue on behalf of biological women. Clear violation of Title IX. Several of the athletes that competed against LT are former teammates or competitors to my daughter, I am so she glad my didn’t swim D1.
Simple answer NCAA make a trans meet but don’t force women to swim against biological males.
I wish you were right, but the NCAA would win this lawsuit and might have allowed Lia Thomas to swim because their lawyers have read Bostock and Title IX case law that existed before Bostock,
Where are the other 7 trans women who would compete against Thomas in this meet? They’re either nonexistent or too slow to cause a disturbance for the swimming world.
A few questions for the NCAA:
What is the “scientific” explanation as to how a man can transform or “transition” into a woman for the purpose of NCAA competitions? (Does the explanation vary by sport?) Does “science” say that. a man becomes a woman when his testosterone is reduced to a certain level? Can you direct us to the specific “scientific” authorities that stand for this proposition? What role do a person’s gender beliefs or self-identification play in the NCAA’s determination that a transgender individual is eligible to compete in men’s or women’s sports (respectively)? Hypothetically speaking, if a “cisgender” man who identifies as a man (not as a woman) were to suffer a reduction in testosterone to whatever level the NCAA deems appropriate for transgender women, would the NCAA consider that person to be a man or a woman? If a transgender woman stops identifying as a woman, does that person cease to be eligible for participation in women’s events? Are “cisgender” women athletes permitted to undergo hormonal treatments to bring their testosterone levels up to those allowed for transgender men? If not, why not? What surgeries (if any) are necessary in order for a man to “transition” into a woman for the purpose of NCAA competitions? (does this vary by sport)? Would Lia Thomas have been eligible to participate in NCAA men’s swimming last year if he so chose?
Inquiring minds want to know.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” — Voltaire
Michael, these are all excellent, thoughtful and relevant questions. They illuminate the can of worms the NCAA opened when they made their nonsensical decision. Please send them to the NCAA for a response.
Lawyer here (but not an expert in Title IX). I hope the NCAA gets sued and someone has to answer questions like these under oath. Crying “transphobia!” or that “trans rights can’t be questioned!” won’t be acceptable answers. The NCAA needs to be forced to provide a substantive defense for what they’ve done and will do going forward. I’m all for inclusion in sports, but forcing elite women to compete against men in elite level NCAA competitions in speed/strength/endurance sports is just wrong on multiple levels, from scholarship eligibility, team memberships , safety, locker room decency/privacy and more. Almost surreal that things have reached this point.
I submitted an amicus in Bostock. The NCAA would lose the lawsuit. The only way to change things is to change the law. Title IX won’t be amended any time soon, but a number of states have changed their statutes, and others may follow.
Hopefully all states change making it so a man cannot swim against women imagine I may try out for women’s softball and win me a medal all u have to do is identify as a woman right?
Wishful htinking versus science (nature)….
And your questions highlight the absurdity. No one is saying trans swimmers aren’t included. They are just saying that they are included in the category of their gender at birth. This is not something you get to choose.
Why “elite” sports? Did my daughter not deserve the fair competition her male competitors got when they participated on their high school swim teams? Don’t girls deserve the same fairness and dignity that the boys get?
Understood. The context here is the NCAA. My personal view is that inclusion is generally fine (locker rooms aside) until kids hit puberty. After that, it’s problematic.
Good luck with that, they’ll run like scared little girls
Totally agree with Michael! He should represent the Girls in a Lawsuit against the NCAA!! Great ? LETTER!!
Wow, those were all great points!!
These questions just go to show what little research you have actually don’t on this topic.
Explain please.
Illuminate me please. I’m waiting.
I’ll settle for a reference to any “scientific” authority that says a man can transform into a woman. I’m not a biologist, so I’d like be educated on this topic. And by the way, these are questions. Can you answer any of them?
I don’t think that any biologist would say that a man can become a woman. If Lia Thomas’ bones are dug up and analysed in centuries to come the scientific verdict will certainly be “adult male”.
So true!!!
Scientifically speaking, if anthropologists can identify the sex of thousands of years old bones, there are physical DIFFERENCES between men & women which are not changed just because a hormone is suppressed after puberty. This “person” is NOT a female. This “person” is a woman wanna-be, and scientifically this “person” will NEVER be a woman, and I don’t care how many left wing loonies stand up and scream about it. There are, of course, a minuscule number of humans who are born with both genitalia, probably less formed than they should be, and certainly in the past mistakes were probably made in having a doctor or the parents “choose” a gender for the children born that way, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a scientific disconnect behind “transgender” individuals who just WANT to be another gender. Just because I WANT to be a fairy Princess or a zebra doesn’t make either possibility a scientific fact.
I identify as a mega-millionaire but am invariably disappointed when I check my bank balances.
Your comments have so much merit. My problem with this world is how wishful thinking has preempted scientific research/thought. We cannot change reality just because we want to……
Still waiting. The silence is deafening.
Come on Jana, it’s been over a day. Still waiting for you’re stack of scientific research to back your claim. What’s that? Oh, there isn’t any? You could at least say, “never mind”.
I’m confused?? By ur comment
You’ll never get a response from the NCAA. They would be forced to tell MORE LIES
I agree, does lower testosterone make the heart and lungs smaller, does it decrease blood supply? No. Three of the most Portland factors in stamina. all of those 3tjings deliver Oxygen to the cells in the body.
Excuse the fat finger typos.
I guess all men in their 70s with normal reduction in testosterone have now become women? Ludicrous to call it based on science!
I read that they have to have a year of hormone therapy before they’re eligible. I also read that the amount they are given is what a menopausal woman would be given, next to nothing! Been there on that one. The testosterone levels are supposed to be checked also.
I’ve had 3 years of Hormone treatment for Prostate Cancer. Am I now a woman?
Haha that’s funny not the cancer part sorry u got that
Wow nice view nicely wrote
I think inclusion is great, so include the MTF swimmers like Thomas to swim against the men, which is what they really are. The only fair way to solve this ridiculous problem is XX’s swim against other XX’ers and XY’s swim against other XY’ers. Keep it up John Lohn, I’m 100% supporting you!
Exactly right. I wish the male swimmers would stand up and publicly express their willingness to include the MTF trans swimmers in their ranks. I’m sure the vast majority would be kind and welcoming. I’ve always thought it was unfair for the burden to be only on the women swimmers to “exclude” the trans swimmers by protesting or objecting. What a terrible position to be in. Why should they have to be the “bad guys”?
You don’t hear about it because a trans man isn’t going out there and shattering records set by men.
I meant that male swimmers should include the Lia Thomas’s of the world, males that identify as women, in addition to the opposite. My point is that Lia IS included, just not in the category she chooses. I keep hearing the argument that it is unkind to exclude trans swimmers, but if they can still swim in the men’s category that’s not exclusion from swimming. I’m really in favor of an Open category
Didn’t this person compete in the men’s division last year and wasn’t competitive?
I think you mean this “man”. He was number 500 in the ranking. He’s an average man but a great woman in the pool.
Yes and was ranked 400th
It has fallen upon women because trans women have an advantage that puts them in the high rankings. You will never hear of trans men in swimming or many other male sports because, just as trans women have a tremendous advantage when competing against biologically-born women, so trans men have have a tremendous disadvantage when competing against biologically-born men. Before all this controversy flared up I remember reading a report that said Venus Williams would be beaten by the top 200 male tennis professionals.
We are still at the beginning of the end of women sports. Wait when this ruling is full blown and exploited. And you will see not one but nth transgender or shall I clearly say men competing in the women’s competition. And I am not saying LGBTQ or gays but even hetero men who is force or choose to be transgender to be successful to be famous or what ever reason you may have. Then you will ask where are the biological women? Tooo late!???
The women need to take a stand by refrain from participating in competition and let the Lia swim by herself. I would live to see at the games the women show up at the pool then they all just walk away
I have been saying the same. Wish someone would give Thompson’s teammates a free ride and allow them to quit.
You mean they are NOT allowed to quit? Swimming g slavery?
It’s not fair that Lia Thomas is competing against women, and it’s wrong that the NCAA let Lia Thomas compete against women. But, life’s not always fair. You can never control who’s in the next lane, but you can always get up on the blocks and try to do your best. And, once you’ve done that, no one can take that away from you. Life’s not been fair to the Ukrainians recently, but instead of quitting, they’ve stood up for what is right, true and just. May we all do the same.
What an absurd comment
The NCAA needs to be ignored and done away with. What gives them the right to monopolize college athletics? They are obviously not up to the job.. The transgender swimmers may not be able to take away that you did your best,but they sure will take your scholarship and Olympic opportunities away. Mind boggling that its gone this far…
That’s the kind of illogic that’s employed by apologists everywhere. Nonsense
Life just raised the bar for these women to such a degree they can’t jump over it.
It’s not a limbo competition. If you have a chance to win, and you lose, that’s when your pep talk holds water.
What is the point of sports when you have no chance to win, and what good is your “life isn’t fair, so lose as gracefully as you can despite knowing you’re never going to win” talk?
What a bunch of malarkeys!
So it would be OK for me to strap an outboard motor to my back?
Yep
But, standing up for what is right, in this case, is not agreeing to compete against a biological male, regardless of WHAT he chooses to call himself.
I wonder if Lea can still, in her heart, consider herself the true winner of this race? Would it not be better for her to renounce the win in the sake of fairness?
If she were to do so she would be seen in a much more positive light.
Right now I would bet her fellow trans genders are telling her to stand strong for trans gender rights even though this has NOTHING to do with trans gender rights. It has to do with physical facts & the basic differences between male & female muscle structure. Going from coming in in 200th place against men to coming in 1st among women pretty much says it all and suppression of a man’s testosterone level will NOT change his muscle structure to that of a biological female. Something’s are just facts which really can not be argued.
Jesus Christ really
That would be very impactful but I don’t think it’s realistic to expect the women to forego their opportunities to make this point. They shouldn’t have to. The male swimmers should publicly make it clear that they are an “inclusive” group and are happy to welcome the trans swimmers to compete with them. Men, stand up and don’t leave this only to the women
In my view, your argument omitted the motives of male athletes competing against women: scholarships and opportunities. These salmon will not swim upstream
I guess I’m naive and thought this was about feelings and inclusion. If the motives you mentioned are the true underlying motives, all the more reason to fight against this
Couldn’t agree with you more! There is nothing the NCAA can do if all the biological women simply refuse to compete against trans gender competitors.
Damn that definitely needs to happen that guy is taking all the spotlight from all the talented women swimmers we don’t talk about them it’s all about him tia lia whatever
He’s a Freak
She is not a freak, she is just different from you . She didn’t break the rules ,she didn’t make the rules, she kept to the rules as they exist.
What an idiot!!!
And looks just like your type!! Ask it out??
Laura, she knows what the reactions have been to her being allowed to compete in the 1st place. I do not think she is stupid but I also do not see how she can consider this a fair win when she came in 200th position as a male swimmer but in the same body came in 1st places against biological females.
She also has to be educated enough, as a college student to know, or research & learn that the science behind her argument does not hold water. This issue is not about transgender rights, it is about the fact that she still has the muscle structure of a male & hormone suppression will NOT alter that fact!
She is a he his body is different from a woman and will always be
Wow he was born a man swam as a man for 3 yrs came in 400th ranked then swam against women and he wins come on!!
Sounds like someone should start another college sports program just for real women or better yet lady swimmers next time you are forced to swim against a man.Go to the podium but refuse to swim let him swim by his self ladies protect what women before you fought to give you this opportunity before they take that away for future you girls and women .lm male and come from a family of 9 women and 3 granddaughter. How insulting wake up
Maybe some of the ladies that are women that were robed of the chance to swim should sue the NCAA take it to court force there hand stand up ladies
Maybe some people who choose to comment should check their spelling, before saying people were robbed!
Still proud of your spelling bee medal from 2nd grade are you?
You never know today with auto correct if someone really did miss spell something or if auto correct put their 2¢ in. LOL!
I think the NCAA is violating the civil rights of all women in their competitions. They created this mess & they don’t know what they don’t know.
At this point they should either adopt USA swimming rules or take the easy way out by creating a new set or records for Transgender “LGBTQ” competitors.
Agreed
Or stick to the chromosome standard. So simple.
I agree. Until these “people” start experiencing cramps and bleeding monthly out of their brand-spanking-new “girl parts” they will always be MEN and will have NO CLUE what it is to ACTUALLY BE a woman!
So unless you have periods you are not a woman? Really?
Stop your moronic and disingenuous question. And no, without the proper female physiology, a man cannot have menstrual cycles, this is what defines a female.
Um yep I believe that’s how it works I’ve never bled once a month ever
That’s the reason that so many trans gender male to female still have their ‘Little Buddy’!
Surgeons do not have the skill to make a man into an anatomical female & the ones who have had the final surgery have many difficulties which requires additional surgery to attempt to correct. In medical school I watched some of these surgeries as they were unusual enough to draw quite a bit of interest. I could only feel sorry for the patiets who had suffered so much tissue degeneration and had few options left due to the fact that men do not have comperable tissue to artificially create female anatomy and I really feel the surgeon who try are committing malpractice. I believe the majority of patients do not take the final step, the one that would be required to give them the right to use the female locker room & showers.
I have nothing against Lia Thomas and her decision to transition from male to female. To each their own. That being said, I have a REALLY hard time understanding how she can justify to herself that it is fair for her to compete against biological women half her size, who are clearly at a physical disadvantage. I mean, come on. She sees this. She knows full well she went from a mediocre male swimmer to a champion female swimmer. Athletes learn fairness in sports. How to be a good sport. How to conduct yourself respectfully when representing your team. Finally, that winning by cheating isn’t winning at all. Some say that Lia has been “put in this position” by the NCAA. Yes, and no. Certainly better decisions could have been made with regard to the rules allowing her to compete. However, she shoulders significant personal responsibility here. I do not feel people are pointing out this fact as often as they really should. If she wanted to continue to swim, she should have delayed transitioning. When she decided to transition, she should have given up the sport in the interest of fairness. By the time someone is in college, having competed in sports their whole lives, they should at least have the decency to bow out when suddenly their participation puts everyone else at an obvious disadvantage. She acts oblivious to this. She allows this to be a referendum on “trans rights.” She hides behind this “trans rights” argument to do something that she knows full well, I guarantee you, is unfair to these biological women athletes. Recognizing this and pointing it out isn’t being “transphobic” or personally attacking her. It’s stating the obvious. If my child beat someone unfairly… I would point this out to them. I would likely make them give back the trophy. I would expect better of them. If a coach pointed this out to me, would that be a personal attack on my child? Of course not. It would be upholding good sportsmanlike conduct. Lia is playing the victim here and getting famous and winning championships while doing it. She ought to be ashamed. If she were my child or I were her coach, I certainly would not be proud of her.
I wholeheartedly agree with you Jennifer
Everyone knows how unfair it is for men to be allowed to compete against women. The argument of trans persons saying they want to compete as their “authentic self” does not stand up when we see Isaac Henning, who is a female transitioning to male, chooses to continue to compete against women. Now I wonder why if Isaac is an “authentic male” they don’t compete against the men. It is clear the answer is obvious. Even the military recognizes the differences between male & female by having physical fitness standards based on biological sex. It is not fair for women to be forced to compete against men, period ! The NCAA is complicit in allowing this travesty to continue in the name of inclusion and the political correctness status quo. They need to consider an open division for anyone who wishes to compete separate from the men’s and women’s division.
Bobbie and Jennifer are exactly right. Anyone who grows up swimming, as did LT, knows the difference in athletic performance between male and female. The UPenn coach is also well aware and should have refused to allow LT to compete against women. He and the athletic administrators bear some of the responsibility for this fiasco. The real victims are the female competitors. Thank you swimming world for allowing this conversation. The other swim website would not.
I agree with everything you said, Jennifer! Thomas is playing the victim, getting famous and winning championships! Reprehensible on his part! And his parents, I must add! I am so sad and ashamed to read they are from my state and near my hometown.
If Isaac Henning is transitioning to male, he will be taking testosterone. He is continuing to compete against women until his testosterone levels exceed that allowed for women, then he will be forced to stop.
Thank you. All the transitioning in this world does not change that he was a fully developed male, who has a very real physical advantage, and I agree, he is using the “I’m Transgender” as the way to somehow justify his actions.
I agree! I recently read an article on which Thomas referred to the “integrity” of NCAA rules in allowing her to compete in the women’s field. Integrity?! What hypocrisy! Thomas wants equality and respect in her desire (read that word again) to live her life as a woman but has shown nothing but insult and disrespect to women athletes as a whole. And she is disregarding the countless women who, for decades, battled for Title IX rights. Those females changed women’s sports for the good. Lia Thomas has, by accepting these trophies, along with the NCAA Board of Governors, made women’s sports a mockery! There has to be a better solution than denying biological women the ability to compete, to make room for biological men who wish/want to compete as women. Transgender individuals should fight for the right to their own competitive category just like born-women did for years to achieve Title IX!!!
Make laws like 1r other states have done making it that u have to show birth certificate to compete in sports men play men women vs women
Jennifer I concur! You are soo right and stated everything I would have said. But you said it better. Bravo. Its simply common sense.
Correct. I think this individual views himself as messianic or is shamelessly opportunitstic
I agree with everything you said! Thomas is playing the victim, getting famous and winning championships. Reprehensible on his part! As well as his parents!!! Where are the morals in this family?? So sad and ashamed to read they are from my state and near my home!!
Will you people stop calling Thomas a “she”. He will always be a male. How can anyone think he is now female?
Only because it is politically correct, Floyd Pink, only because it is politically correct!
I honestly think that whatever makes trans people trans affects their brains and thinking. Males afflicted by it do not like and understand boys and men even though they have been one for at least 20 years. Then they claim that they get what it means to be a woman, even though they have no insight into a woman’s experience. They renounce what they have been and embrace what they cannot be. Do not expect subtlety, nuance, understanding of reason from the transplainers as they they take a millennium of evolutionary biology and reduce the simplest and most essential thing in the world, male and female, to gobbledygook with their talk of data and biodiversity.
Excellent!!! So true I’m with u I don’t care what he or she does to themselves but he has to know and the fame and “hero” status is to much to do the right thing now
The only way he could really screw a girl. NCAA shows little leadership on such an obvious thing.As a college coach for 16 years I hope someday his medal will be stripped,and the women will be justly rewarded..
The coach wanted to win at all costs, I wouldn’t choose to swim for a coach that wants to win at the expense of his female swimmers.
If Thomas was walking around in the locker room naked, it was very apparent that he is a male… Enough said.
He can be as messed up as he wants to be but has no right to ruin anyone else’s right to privacy, protection and integrity. What if there were 25 or 50 mtf qualified at the meet without any actual women qualifying… Do you like where this is going?
Such a cheap way to win a trophy…
I firmly believe that will be the case eventually. But sadly, not for quite some time. I just hope I’m still alive when all of these swimmers show up at ceremonies with their grandkids to be awarded the medals they rightfully earned.
Hell yeah
Not to mention they allow him to use/change/shower in women’s locker room(according to other athletes)
I can not believe how sad our country has become. We have a judge that is going to be on the Supreme Court and will not define a woman. The reason is because she is all for this transgender nonsense. I do not see any girls that want to be a transgender boy and play football or basketball. In Texas where I live if they want let her play basketball and they identify as a boy they will have to let her play.
If they will not let her play her parents will take the UIL to court.
Look out, your politics are showing, and not in a good way.
cant win as a man, so change gender to compete with women, with man parts and physique.
He needs to work up the nerve to kill himself
This reminds of the Biden administration illegally taken!!!
Stfu trump lost and you suck. Get over it.
Your idiotic statement is morally repugnant. And stupid
Totally repugnant statement.
There is a place for everyone in the NCAA in the two sex categories.
Really, please enlighten me!
If “all” non-trans were to not participate, and all of us who supports them were to boycott the Business’es, school and etc. that do. Maybe this highly unfair practice will stop. They should have their own separate competition’s at same meets.
If your child was trans you would throw them away . Everone here are biggots.ck you information about hrt
Emblematic of the foolishness of driving this argument into the emotionally charged existential crisis category. Foolishness
Ah yes and there you have it. Yet another insult (everone here are biggots.ck) hurled at educated, common sense people, who have a difference of opinion. Must be a Democrat
Kudos. You’ve resolved the dispute to everyone’s satisfaction.
I would get my child the help he/she needs to accept him/her self as they were born. As a physician I have to tell you it is PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to change your sex which is decided on a DNA level. Unless you can change the DNA structure in every cell in your body, you are what you were born. If you were born ‘XX’ you are a female, if you were born ‘XY’ you are a male.
I have read the psychological arguments, every one of which I can find serious flaws with. Simply do to the fact that I took an oath when I became a doctor, the Hippocratic Oath. FIRST DO NO HARM! Using the heavy doses of hormones needed to bring out SECONDARY sexual characteristics causes serious issues with patients suffering cancer, cardiac problems, serious psychiatric issues (particularly common in female to male trans gender) along with many other problems. Just the fact that so few patients proceed to the final step of transition, removal of their sexual organs of birth and accepting what modern surgery is capable of giving them, a very poor second in either case. You simply can not change your sex. More man trans to female than the other way around simply because of certain freedoms women have. Freedom to feel, to express emotion, to cry in grief or happiness, to feel protected. Not as we teach men, don’t feel, don’t hurt, take it on the chin, man up etc., it is perfectly obvious why anyone would prefer to be female. But AGREEING with them that they ARE female is insane. Why the medical professional goes along with it is beyond my understanding. There are people who need help accepting who they are, how they need to live to be happy and how to overcome male and female stereotypes. It helps no one to buy into to their belief that they really are or really think they can become the opposite sex!
Kudos for the most coherent response in this thread thus far. It is refreshing to see factual information instead of the delusional demands made for us to agree that men are women or Visa versa. We need more professionals like you to speak up and dispel the myths generated by people who value political correctness over the rights of real women to compete on a fair level in competitive sports.
I read that there is a Title IX lawsuit brought by one of the women in sports groups. I’ve wondered for months how Title IX did not cover protecting girls against male bodies in sport. It’s visually evident that Lia had advantages from having grown up with a male body so how can any honest person say that those races were fair? Lia has hurt transgender rights in the extreme. Live your life as you wish but don’t hurt others just to unfairly be a winner. I was most disturbed by an interview with Lia where she stated she hoped to continue competitive swimming and maybe even the next Olympics and I hoped the nightmare was over.
Quick question. If there is no decernable difference between a trans gender male to female athelete then where are all the trans gender female to male atheletes?? Should be no difference according to some.
There is one but he won’t complete transformation until he’s done competing because if he has 2 tests come back positive for testosterone, he’s banned for life. Which means Thomas can alter her testosterone and compete legally, but the transman cannot. Sounds biased to me. So he chose to wait further transition, other than his breaststroke removal, until his collegiate career is finished with the women’s team because he is still, technically, a biological woman.
I meant breasts. Grr, autocorrect
There really should be a league for men, women and transgender people. I’m pretty sure transgender people would be much more happier and more comfortable with their own league. They would get the same attention, trophies and praises that men and women get you all deserve your own transgender bathrooms, locker rooms and everything else everyday men and women individually take advantage of natural.
If this were actually about athletics and not politics, I would agree with you.
SOLUTION….ALL THE FEMALES ON ALL THE TEAMS BOYCOTT ALL THE SWIM MEETS AND NO ONE IN THE STANDS….LET THE MR. LIA THOMAS SWIM BY HIMSELF
Why is everyone here so hateful towards trans women? Why not have some respect for our fellow humans and celebrate and honor our differences?
It’s not hate, it’s facts!! Why is it that everytime we speak up about unfairness, we get called hateful, homophobic, or transphobic??
Did you know that we heterosexual men are being called transphobic just because we won’t date transwomen, or because we won’t raise our sons to date transwomen??
What’s wrong with us wanting to stay in our pocket?? I have no ill will towards anyone, and I am happy that the LGBTQ community have gotten more freedoms than they ever have.
But I’d be remiss if I don’t also say that I feel like we’ve waaay overcorrected!! As I said, I’m happy that they’ve gotten more freedoms… but not at the expense of my freedom, and my comfort level. Why should I be made to feel like I’m a bad human being, just because I want to date a biological woman??
Because they want political powers over you, me and anyone else they can bully into agreement or silence
And that’s the part that I don’t get!!! For years they’ve cried, marched, and protested over their rights and freedoms. And as soon as they got them, they immediately wanted. .. not more rights, but more power.
And that’s what really bothers me!! Some LGBTQ people were made to feel like they didn’t deserve to have a voice, and as soon as they got one, they proceeded to want to take ours away. Not all of them, but I think it’s fair to say that it’s the majority of them.
One would think that a group that was made to feel like lesser than, would be more accepting of the beliefs, or feelings of others. And it doesn’t help that the people in power just look the other way, and encourage their behavior.
Next level virtue signaling has triumphed over reason and logic, at the expense of women’s sports.
Honor our differences? That’s what the female swimmers want, honor the differences between male and female. Can’t wait for the uproar from the WNBA or women’s college basketball when the first trans female wants to play.
Well at least trans female LT will never need to have a PSA checked. Oh, wait!
Why are you seeing these comments hateful? These are the facts that I challenge anyone to dispute: LT has Y chromosome in every cell in his body, testosterone causes muscles and bones to be stronger, testosterone was produced in his body at certain times, and finally, with all the science that we have, we are not God
Because Jack, it truly is not possible to change your sex. If you were to meet Lea on the street, with no knowledge of anything to do with all this, would you think you were talking to a biological woman with male muscles an adams apple and 6’2′ tall? (Actually I didn’t double check his height but he towers over the women in the photo’s I’ve seen) Or would you realize almost immediately that you were speaking to a trans male to female?
Regardless of someone’s opinion on trans gender issues they would still KNOW Lea is not a biological female but a man on hormone therapy who WANTS to be seen as a woman.
Bottom line, medical science does not have a safe effective treatment to change the sex you were born & in all probability it will be a long time until they do & there are so many other conditions which are real life or death which should take priority when it comes to research. Cancer, cardiac problems (both of which trans gender treatment, by use of the heavy duty hormone manipulation) trans gender patients suffer at much greater frequency than the general population.
This whole issue goes beyond the NCAA & their right to manipulate medical facts to allow trans gender females to compete against biological females. The truth is so incredibly obvious that allowing biological males (no matter what they call themselves) to compete against biological females is WRONG.
Don’t let the facts blind you to the truth, NCAA!
Because they are FREAKS!
Perhaps LT is being used to take down women sports
That’s what I believe, too. And women in sports would just play into their hands by walking away, unfortunately. It’s funny, I am a woman but never played sports. I never really thought about Title IV or what effect it had on women, until now. And I truly believe it has come down to the powers that be working to eliminate women’s sports!
I need help to understand the reason behind a desire to eliminate women’s sports…Who wants to eliminate it and what for?
This business with the giant on the women’s swim team is repulsive and fundamentally wrong. I see it as a twisted and very dark from of misogyny. Our culture is being gaslighted by a twisted ideology and we all better wake up.
PS…If one of the “lurkers” here wants to scold and insult my comment, bring it on! IDGAF.
Amen shout it from the mountain haha
NO ONE HATES MR LIA THOMAS….LITTLE BIOLOGY LESSON HERE XX EQUALS FEMALE (MR LIA THOMAS IS NOT)…. XY EQUALS MALE (MR LIA THOMAS IS A MALE) …..SO, MEN DO NOT BELONG IN FEMALE SPORTS. SO STOP CALLING MR LIA THOMAS A FEMALE OR A WOMEN…..HE IS NEITHER….HE MAY HAVE DECIDED TO CALL HIMSELF TRANGENGER IN ORDER TO COMPETE AGAINST FEMALES BECAUSE HE WAS POOR AT BEST IN THE IN HIS DIVISION….THAT DOES NOT CHANGE HIS GENETICS. STOP DEFLECTING AND STICK WITH FACTS….HE IS A DUDE NOT A DUDETTE
Indeed!
I’ve been thinking about this a different way. I don’t mean to offend anyone, so please don’t take offense.
But would simply wanting to be something other than what a person was born as be acceptable if a white person went around saying they were black, or vice versa, or just anyone that was born one race, but claimed to be another, just because that’s what they identified as??
I don’t think that that would be accepted, nor do I think that it should be, and I view this the same way. We are what we were born as. No amount of surgery will change that, as the DNA will always remain the same.
A man won’t magically grow a uterus, mammary glands, or ovaries just because they have a surgery, just as a woman won’t magically grow working testicles just because she has a surgery.
Again, I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I just thought I’d give my perspective in a different way.
That’s not offensive, it’s called critical thinking. Thanks
Be careful, there are those who would tell you there is no such thing as race…until a write person pretends to be black.
…as in the former NAACP employee, Rachel Dolizol, who was labeled a “race fabricator”.
There is no her… He pees in a cup it says it’s a he. Lefties want to push the boundary of everything and most of the everything is mentally ill people
As someone who legitimately feels like they should have been born Kimg of America, I declare that anyone who doesn’t respect my beliefs that I should be running this place should be condemned and outcast. Follow my rules, as I believe they should be followed and no one has the right to disagree with me feelings!
Well now I see why this site allows all of the disgusting transphobic comments.
The question I have that I have never seen addressed is this: Lea Thomas went from being a mediocre male athlete to an outstanding “female” one. How much did his performance drop, if any, from the testosterone blockers he took.
Only about a 1-2% drop in performance. Female swimmers normally perform at about 90% of their male counterparts.
Btw, he was actually an outstanding male swimmer finishing in the top 3 in his distance events at Ivy League championships. Mind you he was no threat to make the olympics, but he was hardly mediocre. In fact, had he continued to compete as a male it is likely he would have still made the finals at Ivy League championships.
The transgender community’s unwillingness to recognize how unfair this is and how much it negatively impacts cis-women is evoking the very response they fear. They are working against their interests by insisting that society accept the subjugation of their sisters and daughters.
It must have dropped sufficiently for her to be allowed to compete under the new rules. I call Lia Thomas “her” in the same way that I’d use someone’s new name if they chose to change it. It’s their choice.
How about we have a 3rd special division for all the little boys that want their dicks cut off and all the little girls who want said dicks attached between their legs. Let the circus begin and and I cant think of a better mickey mouse organization than the ncaa to oversee it.
The only way this will be truly fix is for all women athletes to boycott any meets that have the transgender participant in it.
Here’s the science on this issue: Thomas is a man. Thomas is a he not a she. No matter how many drugs he ingests or body parts he whacks off ( which he hasn’t felt inclined to do it seems) or how many times he claps his hands, he will never be a woman. He will never have an XY chromosome, he will never conceive a child with a man, he will never bear a child, he will never nurse a child-shall I go on? The fact that ANYONE would go along with this charade and allow women’s sports, even THEIR very identity to be attacked in this way is truly mind boggling.
What continues to surprise me is that there is no discussion taking place around the obvious fact that Lia Thomas is an incredibly selfish person. Why on earth do we act like it’s incredibly virtuous to put their own needs above everyone else’s?
The NCAA also perpetuates the fantasy that Big 10 SEC etc football is an amateur sport. Mark Emmert sounds more like Pinoccio every day.
If one year of hormones is sufficient for fairness, where is the former female ranked 462 who, after a year of treatment, beats all of the men in that sport?
If you want change, make it happen. At every competition Lia enters, there should be no one else in the pool with her. Boycott it all the way to the national championships. It’ll be a hard sacrifice for these women who have trained so hard for this sport, but they will be Martyrs for the future of not only swimming but all NCAA sports.
No Credibility At All
When did the wheels fall off this country?
The answer is pretty simple do not swim against him! If the female athletes feel that strong about it don’t get on the platform. End of problem. Oh and also no one ever said they couldn’t compete in there sport there is a whole other division call the men’s division!
What can the NCAA do against that!
Transgender athlete should compete with transgender athlete, if your not born with a uterus and ovary then you are not a woman period!
It’s simple. You can change your name. But you are still the same. There are only two sexes in mammals: male or female. A person may sincerely believe they are another sex, they are Napoleon or the queen mother. However sincere my belief that I’m Sean Connery, I’m not.
The terrible thing is that nobody dares say the truth for being attacked by the fascist Woke mob.
While men are winning women’s swimming and tiddly winks competitions, nobody will really care.
Wait till men start taking the £3 million first prize as the woman Wimbledon champion.
I believe there should be a separate catagory for those whose biological sex is not the same as their preferred gender. This would be fair to everyone. It seems that womens sport is being sacrificed for political correctness in a way that mens sport isn’t. Its very unlikely that any trans men will be able to qualify for top echelon places except in sports such as shooting and archery.
Your attitudes are disgusting. How you are the magazine of the swimming world I do not know. Such terrible, lazy, biased reporting. Do some real research and stop getting triggered by the transgender thing. You’re all transphobic. Trans athletes belong in sport the same as everyone else. What I am seeing is a lot of people saying trans athletes can compete so long as they don’t win. Cleqrly, you know nothing about biology – but plenty about bigotry. Enjoy being on the wrong side of history.
And there it is.. we’re being called transphobic for speaking ther truth.
No we’re not saying that trans shouldn’t compete. We’re saying that they should compete in their own category.
No one is saying that trans athletes should not compete or win. We are saying that all athletes should compete in the division that corresponds to their biologic sex at birth and not their perceived identity so the competition is fair. When people do not agree with your delusion that men are women based on just their view of themselves, we are immediately labeled as bigots or transphobic. Get a grip on reality and go enroll in a Biology 101 course before you accuse anyone of knowing nothing about biology.
What you’re seeing are objections to men competing against women in speed/strength/endurance sports. No one is saying that trans athletes don’t belong in sports (straw man), they are simply saying that “trans women” shouldn’t be permitted to compete against (real) women. Clearly you think you know something about biology that everyone here doesn’t know; care to share a single scrap of your supposed superior knowledge? Until you can respond with a substantive argument, as distinct from ad hominem personal attacks, I’ll tell you to enjoy denying truth, reason, logic and physical reality itself.
Mark Emmert is obviously a fool and a misogynist. Anybody who actually believes this Lia person is a woman, obviously has no knowledge of biology. If Mark Emmert and the people that agree with him are allowed to continue, the end of women’s sports is in sight.
It’s not stunning and brave to try and exploit an unfair advantage. Not having breasts alone is a big advantage in swimming.
Wil(lia)m Thomas needs to be rebuked from women’s sports as well as any biological males. That person has the publicity to start a trans swimming league now if they want.
Then if the NCAA is not going to listen to biologic (women born women) then next Olympics if there are men (men who identified a as women) in women’s finals all then women should drop out and not coming compete. The the swimming finals will be real men and weirdo men.
He claims to be a woman, yet he still has his twigs and berries. I believe if I strongly felt that I was a woman that would be the first thing that would have to go. So I doubt his dedication to his transformation. Other than he could not compete and win as a male. So then what do you do? You swim against the females. He went from 420th in the male category the first place as a female. I will call him Leah but I refuse to call him female