Lia Thomas Archives - The Virginia Star

Judge Greenlights ‘Save Women’s Sports’ Title IX Suit amid More Forfeits over Alleged Trans Player

November 14, 2024 Just the News

Years before University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas drew national attention to males who identify as women dominating girls’ sports through eligibility via gender identity, male sprinters who identify as girls took first and second in Connecticut high school track championships, prompting a go-nowhere Trump administration investigation and lawsuit by parents of the female athletes they defeated.

‘Deeply Regressive’: Riley Gaines Slams Biden’s Title IX Rules at Pro-Women Sports Rally

June 4, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration’s changes to Title IX will reverse 50 years of progress for female athletes by allowing biological men to keep competing in women’s sports, pro-women’s sports leaders said Friday at an Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition rally.

The event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was one of the first stops on the coalition’s Take Back Title IX bus tour, which calls on America’s leaders to ensure equal protections for female athletes under the federal regulation.

Sporting Associations Start to Crack Down on Men In Women’s Sports

January 2, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Sporting associations have tightened rules regarding transgender athletes competing in women’s sports in 2023, drawing complaints from LGBT activists.

The issue of men competing in women’s sports has received considerable scrutiny amid instances such as Laurel Hubbard, a biological male, competing against women in the weightlifting events during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, as well as University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas’s participation in the 2022 NCAA championships, where the biological male won the 500-yard women’s final and placed highly in other events. The international governing bodies for cricket, fishing and track and field barred biological males from competing in women’s events in 2023, following a similar decision by the international governing body for competitive swimming in 2022.

Female Athletes Threaten Legal Action if NCAA Continues to Let Males Compete in Women’s Sports

January 17, 2023January 16, 2023 Admin

An organization of female athletes sent a letter Thursday to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, demanding that the NCAA reverse its policy of allowing male athletes who identify as women to compete on women’s teams, or face legal action.

A group of current and former collegiate and professional female athletes also protested Thursday outside the NCAA convention in San Antonio, after the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, or ICONS, sent the letter.

Men Are Winning Women’s Athletic Competitions Across the Nation

December 12, 2022December 11, 2022 Admin

Dozens of athletic competitions for women and girls have been upended by the participation of males identifying as transgender women, who benefit from a host of biological advantages over female competitors, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

Transgender-identified males have competed in a variety of women’s athletic competitions, from school sports for young children to top college events and Olympic competitions. Differences in an average woman’s strength, stamina and physique compared to the average male are sustained even when a male undergoes testosterone suppression, according to the Sports Councils’ Equality Group.

Herschel Walker Rips Biological Men Competing Against Women in Sports: ‘Unfair and Wrong’

November 23, 2022November 22, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Georgia Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Herschel Walker blasts allowing biological men to compete against women in sports in a new runoff election campaign ad that features former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines.

Gaines tied with transgender athlete Lia Thomas for fifth place in the women’s 200-yard freestyle finals during this year’s NCAA championships, but was not awarded the fifth-place trophy.

Virginia Tech Swimmer Writes Letter to NCAA in Opposition to Transgender Athletes

March 22, 2022March 21, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

A female swimmer at a Virginia university wrote a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) saying she was cheated out of a spot in the NCAA national championship 500-meter race because of biologically male, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

Reka Gyorgy, a senior student-athlete at Virginia Tech University, called Thomas’ participation in the event “a problem.”

Virginia Tech Swimmer Writes Letter to NCAA in Opposition to Transgender Athletes

March 22, 2022March 21, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

Reka Gyorgy, a senior student-athlete at Virginia Tech University, called Thomas’ participation in the event “a problem.”

University of Virginia Women’s Swimmer Takes Second to Biological Male in National Championship

March 19, 2022March 18, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

A University of Virginia Women’s Swimmer took home second place in the NCAA national championship Thursday, finishing behind controversial biologically male, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn).

Freshman Emma Weyant was the fastest female swimmer in the 500 meter race, but that was not enough to win the women’s national championship.

Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Beats Out Female Competitors by 1.75 Seconds in NCAA Championships

March 19, 2022 Admin

University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas won the 500 free event at the NCAA Women’s Championships by 1.75 seconds Thursday.

In first place, Thomas swam finished at 4:33.24, according to results published on swimmeetresults.tech. The three runners-up swam 4:34.99, 4:35.92 and 4:36.18.

Penn Swimming Has ‘Fallen Apart’ as School Breaks Records with Biological Male on Women’s Team

March 6, 2022March 5, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

man doing a butterfly stroke in swimming pool

Conflict and distrust between athletes has shaken the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team as transgender swimmer Lia Thomas dominates the sport at the national level, according to Sports Illustrated.

Several people affiliated with the team spoke to Sports Illustrated under the condition that their names not be used, the outlet said. “I’m not about to be labeled as transphobic,” one swimmer reportedly said.

Team leadership has supported Thomas competing against women, and the school’s athletic director told female swimmers who were upset about competing against a biological male to consider going to therapy through the campus counseling program, according to Sports Illustrated.

University of Pennsylvania Trans Swimmer Breaks Another Women’s Record, Finishes a Lap Ahead of Competition

February 20, 2022February 19, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas won an Ivy League Championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle event Thursday, beating most of her competitors by about one lap, according to multiple sources.

Thomas, who competed on the University of Pennsylvania men’s team for three years before adopting a transgender identity, beat the second-place 500 free swimmer by seven and a half seconds and the third-place swimmer by more than ten seconds, according to an event summary.

16 University of Pennsylvania Swimmers Say Trans Teammate Should Not Be Allowed to Compete

February 5, 2022February 4, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Sixteen women on the University of Pennsylvania swim team said their transgender teammate, Lia Thomas, should not be allowed to compete in the women’s category, The Washington Post reported.

The teammates sent a letter to the university and to Ivy League officials asking that they not take legal action against new NCAA rules which would block Thomas from competing in the 2022 championships, according to the Post. The women said they supported Thomas’s decision to live as a transgender woman, but they say “the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity.”

NCAA Officer Resigns amid Transgender Policy Controversy as Reports of Lia Thomas’ ‘Entitlement’ Surface

January 31, 2022 Admin

Dorian Rhea Debussy, a member of the NCAA Division III LGBTQ OneTeam program, recently resigned over the organization’s updated policy on transgender athletes.

“I’m deeply troubled by what appears to be a devolving level of active, effective, committed, and equitable support for gender diverse student-athletes within the NCAA’s leadership,” Debussy said, according to Fox News, after the national organization adopted a “sport-by-sport” approach to determining transgender athlete’s eligibility to compete on opposite-gender teams.

According to Fox News, Debussy said, “As a non-binary, trans-feminine person, I can no longer, in good conscience, maintain my affiliation with the NCAA.”

Swimmer Says Her Team Is Uncomfortable Sharing Locker Room with Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas

January 29, 2022January 28, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

A female swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania said the school brushed off her and her teammates’ concerns about sharing locker rooms with a male swimmer, the Daily Mail reported.

She and her teammates felt uncomfortable sharing locker rooms with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who has male body parts and is reportedly “attracted to women,” according to the Daily Mail.

NCAA Updates Trans Athlete Policy After Lia Thomas Swept Up Women’s Swimming Titles

January 21, 2022January 20, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

The NCAA changed its policy on transgender athlete participation Wednesday as concern mounted over swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, identifying as a woman and immediately dominating the sport.

Transgender athletes will need to show testosterone levels within their sport’s approved range four weeks before championship selections, according to the new rules. They will need to document their testosterone levels at the beginning of the season as well as four weeks before championship selections in the coming academic year.