The NCAA recently changed rules regarding transgender athletes that require them to meet certain thresholds of testosterone in order to compete in their sport.
The NCAA said last month that it wanted to give transgender athletes an opportunity to participate while also “balancing fairness, inclusion, and safety for all who compete.” It could be called the Lia Thomas Rule named for the biological male swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania who declared himself a transgender woman a few months ago and has proceeded to smash records and mop up the competition in the women’s side of the sport.
The rule casts doubt on whether Thomas will be able to compete in the upcoming NCAA swimming championships. UPenn has said it may seek an exemption for Thomas.
But after months of indicating everything is fine among the ladies in the UPenn pools, dissension has broken out among the ranks.
On Thursday, just two days after the UPenn swimming and diving team issued a statement expressing “full support” for Thomas, 16 of Thomas’ teammates and their families sent a letter to UPenn and the Ivy League asking that the university not challenge the NCAA rule on Thomas’ behalf.
The letter was posted in Swimming World magazine. It was sent on behalf of the protesters by Nancy Hogshead-Makar, the CEO of Champion Women and a three-time Olympic gold-medal swimmer who has criticized support for Thomas as damaging to women’s sports.
In the letter, the anonymous protesters wrote, “We ask that Penn and the Ivy League support us as biological women, and not engage in legal action with the NCAA to challenge these new Athlete Inclusion Policies.”
“We fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to affirm her gender identity and to transition from a man to a woman. Lia has every right to live her life authentically,” they added. “However, we also recognize that when it comes to sports competition, that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity.”
“Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the women’s category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female,” the letter continued. “If she were to be eligible to compete against us, she could now break Penn, Ivy, and NCAA Women’s Swimming records; feats she could never have done as a male athlete.”
The letter further notes that while the women’s swimming team has 40 members, only 18 get to compete in the championships. Permitting Thomas to one of them robs someone else.
“Most important to us is that Lia’s inclusion with unfair biological advantages means that we have lost competitive opportunities. Some of us have lost records. But even those that swim different events than Lia or were not in contention to make the Ivy Championships, we stand by our teammates who have lost out. It has often felt like Penn, our school, our league, and the NCAA did not support us,” the protesters argued.
“We have dedicated our lives to swimming. Most of us started the same time Lia did, as pre-teens. We have trained up to 20 hours a week, swimming miles, running, and lifting weights. To be sidelined or beaten by someone competing with the strength, height, and lung capacity advantages that can only come with male puberty has been exceedingly difficult.”
The protesters then pointed out that speaking out against Thomas, in defense of their own rights, meant getting kicked off the team or not receiving job offers. They noted both swimmers and coaches were barred from talking to the media about their complaints.
“We support Lia’s mental health, and we ask Penn and the Ivy League to support ours as well,” the letter stated.
“We hope that sport will adapt; that swimming will find a place for Lia to compete. Lia is always welcome to train with us; the men’s and women’s swimming teams have always trained together with the same head coach.
However, sport is competitive by definition, and Lia’s wins, records, and honors should not come at our expense, the women who have worked their entire lives to earn a spot on the Penn Women’s Swimming Team.”
In conclusion, they noted they just celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Penn, they maintained, should honor the “pioneers who have worked so hard for women to have opportunities in sports and for educational opportunities for all women.”
“We ask the University of Pennsylvania [to] recognize the importance of providing fair competition and safe spaces for its biological female athletes. Further, we ask that Penn and the Ivy League refrain from suing the NCAA, or try to interfere with or weaken these new Athlete Inclusion Policies, that they be allowed to stand, so that we are able to finish our swimming season with distinction and pride.”
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New rule. TransPhreak contestants have to have 0.00000 nan juice in them to compete against women. FJB