NFL
By: Zachary Draves
University of Penn swimmer Lia Thomas made history by becoming the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division 1 national title in any sport.
During the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta, Lia won the 500m freestyle at 4:33:24.
She was just 9.18 seconds shy of Katie Ledecky’s record time of 4:24.06.
Lia took second in the prelims for the 200 meter freestyle and fifth in the final and tenth in the prelims for the 100 meter freestyle and eighth (last) in the final.
She made history and did so at a critical time where the rights of trans people and LGBTQ+ people in general are under constant assault from various right wing state legislatures, politicians, and commentators.
Instead of being heralded for her trailblazing accomplishments, Lia is still being put under a microscope of intense transphobia and hate.
Some are relying on the old trope that she has an athletic advantage or that she is somehow a threat to women’s sports.
Keep in mind that many if not most of these people coming out against here are some of the loudest voices in ridiculing, mocking, and not supporting women’s sports to begin with.
Chances are if you were to ask them which women’s sports teams they regularly follow or which woman athlete they support, they would have nothing to offer.
They have never spoke up in favor of equal pay, against sexual harrassment and abuse in sports, addressed inadequete funding for women’s athletic programs even as we approach 50 years since Title IX, and neither have they showed any solidarity when women such as Simone Biles or Naomi Osaka share their vulnerability and call to attention the issue of mental health.
Nor have they spoken out in support of Britnney Griner who is a political prisoner in Russia at this point.
All of which constitute a real threat to women’s sports, not Lia Thomas or other trans women and girls.
Furthermore, this whole idea that she somehow has a competitive advantage because she is a trans women is rooted in outdated language and rhetoric on gender, sex, and identity nor is it based in fact.
There is no empirical evidence to suggest that trans people competing in athletics in accordance with their gender identity have a greater advantage of cis athletes.
Furthermore, if we are going down this path, shouldn’t we ask whether Michael Phelps has an unfair advantage given that he has a greater lung capacity and wingspan than his competitors?
Also, if she had such an unfair advantage why did she come in last or next to last in her other events?
Athletic talent has more to do with access to training facilities, equipment, coaches, nutritionists, etc.
Just sayin.
It is also worth mentioning that organizations such as the Women’s Sports Foundation, National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, American Psychological Association, and others have wholeheartedly given their support of the participation and inclusion of trans athletes in all levels of sport.
Trans sports journalist Dawn Ennis, who was in Atlanta covering Lia for Forbes Magazine and who unfortunately was on the receiving end of transphobic behavior by loud agitators, put Lia’s impact into proper context.
“Lia Thomas is a champion who also didn’t dominate the events of this week and competed fairly and within the rules” she said.
“She endured boos and was a shining example of resilience.”
A final point of context and understanding is that Lia followed the NCAA guidelines for trans athletes dating back to 2011 in order to compete.
If anything, she went through extravagant lengths to ensure fairness in her sport and that she simply wanted to be like the rest of her competitors.
In the end, Lia Thomas epitomizes courage, tenacity, will, and authenticity.
She is destined for great things and has desires to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The question becomes for those who claim to be more patriotic than thou, if Lia is in a position to win a gold medal for her country, will these same people who chastise her chant USA! USA!?
Or will they continue to expose themselves for who they truly are.
Either way Lia Thomas embodies everything they don’t possess which is the ability to win on one’s own terms.
