Leave Lia Thomas Alone

By: Zachary Draves

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas has incurred the wrath of a certain portion of the population that is essentially hellbent on delegitimizing her and others like her.

Why? Because she is a good athlete who happens to be openly transgender.

In early December, Lia competed during an invitational meet in Ohio and achieved the best times in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events, the best in NCAA Division 1 season.

In the process, she secured a spot in the NCAA Division 1 Championships scheduled for this March.

Yet, instead of receiving widespread praise for her breakthrough accomplishments she is on the receiving end of transphobic attacks.

She is the latest in a long line of trans athletes, particularly trans female athletes, whose athletic abilities and accomplishments have been under intense scrutiny by politicians, commentators, and others.

“It seems as if she is the new target for transphobes and people who want to see us banned from sports competition or worse” says trans journalist and advocate Dawn Ennis.

Much of the rhetoric is centered on a “biological male” competing against biological females and claiming she has an unfair advantage and threatens the sanctity of women’s sports.

The problem is that none of these claims are based in reality.

Lia was cleared to compete on the women’s team after going through one year of intensive hormone replacement therapy starting back in 2019 as is required.

According to NCAA guidelines, a transgender female athlete can compete for collegiate women’s sports teams after completing one year of testosterone suppression treatment.

The NCAA has joined other sport governing bodies including the IOC in stating that transgender athletes don’t have a greater advantage over cisgender athletes and that there is no scientifc evidence to say otherwise.

Furthermore, the NCAA states “any strength and endurance advantages a transgender woman arguably may have as a result of her prior testosterone levels dissipate after about one year of estrogen or testosterone-suppression therapy.”

“I think what people forget when they talk about “fairness” is the question of how would it be fair for Lia to be stopped from being her true self and competing as such? Why should she be penalized for how she was born?” says Ennis.

It is also worth mentioning that athletic advantages and disadvantages are there regardless of gender identity and have much to do with access to facilities, coaches, trainers, nutritionists, and other mechanisms irrespective of physical attributes.

Think about it, Michael Phelps had a wider wingspan and greater lung capacity but nobody questions whether he had an unfair advantage and also he had connections with some of the best coaches in the world, most notably Bob Bowman.

Also these talking heads who claim they care about women’s sports but openly mock women’s sports when they make any references towards the WNBA, NWSL, or women’s college athletics.

Also if you were to ask these people who their favorite women athletes are or any women’s team they regularly support, they are most likely silent.

All this is a concerted effort to further disenfranchise trans people from society.

According to Athlete Ally, Ten states and nine this year have passed laws that ban trans girls and women from playing on female sports teams and more than twenty states have introduced similar pieces of legislation. https://www.athleteally.org/lia-thomas-and-all-trans-athletes-deserve-to-thrive/

These legislative attacks also go well beyond sports.

Various states have either considered or passed legislation that would ban trans youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care.

All this comes at a time of tremendous vulnerability for trans people that includes the ongoing epidemic of trans women and gender non-conforming people being murdered with at least 50 lives lost this year alone. https://www.hrc.org/resources/fatal-violence-against-the-transgender-and-gender-non-conforming-community-in-2021

To see Lia Thomas compete as she is and to win provides an example of hope for trans people.

It is also important to simultaneously acknowledge the hardship trans people face while also seeing trans people live, thrive, and succeed.
That is why creating space in sport is essential because the benefits of playing sport go well beyond wins/loses.

Sports provide a safe haven and can lead to life changing social connections while also benefiting one’s physical, emotional, and mental well being.

Trans athletes remind us that it is not just about wanting to compete at the highest level and to win on your own terms, but to be able to compete unapologetically yourself.

Lia Thomas embodies those characteristics and for that she should be praised not ridiculed.

If anything, listen to her share her story:

(Courtesy: YouTube)

The old adage was if you got nothing nice to say don’t say nothing at all.

Well that’s the message to the transphobes.

Leave Lia Thomas Alone.