Conservative commentator Matt Walsh has sought to flummox liberal foes with a simple question: What is a woman?
In liberal political circles, the answer is not as clear as one might think, and fans at an Ivy League swim meet on Saturday likely can’t say.
One “women’s” race at the meet between the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and Dartmouth featured Penn’s Lia Thomas, a biological man who is transitioning to a woman, against Iszac Henig of Yale, a biological woman who is transitioning to be a man.
Thomas, a senior who had competed as a man until this season, has been smashing records at Penn and scorching the biological women he has competed against.
But as The Daily Mail of London reported, Henig “crushed” Thomas twice Saturday, once in the 100-yard freestyle race and in the 400-yard relay.
Thomas’ story is pretty well known by this point. But Henig has not gotten the same attention or notoriety, although the swimmer had explained the decision to compete with women months ago.
In a New York Times opinion piece back in July, Henig explained, “As a student-athlete, coming out as a trans guy put me in a weird position. I could start hormones to align more with myself, or wait, transition socially, and keep competing on a women’s swim team. I decided on the latter.”
“I value my contributions to the team and recognize that my boyhood doesn’t hinge on whether there’s more or less testosterone running through my veins. At least, that’s what I’ll try to remember when I put on the women’s swimsuit for the competition and am reminded of a self I no longer feel attached to.”
The Daily Mail noted that after one of Henig’s wins, the swimmer pulled down the bathing-suit top, revealing that Henig’s breasts had been removed as part of the transition process.
“I wasn’t prepared for that,” one anonymous parent with a child on Penn’s team told the paper. “Everything is messed up. I can’t wrap my head around this. The NCAA needs to do something about this. They need to put science into the decision and discussion.”
Another parent added: “A man just crushed the women’s team.”
The Daily Mail added that some of Thomas’ teammates have complained, also anonymously, and had threatened to boycott Saturday’s meet because of the unfair advantage Thomas has. But they opted not to in order to avoid being labeled “transphobic,” and finding themselves excluded from future competitions.
But some of their parents are lashing out at the Ivy League and in the NCAA, sending the governing body of college athletics demanding that the rules that allow Thomas to compete with women be changed.
“At stake here is the integrity of women’s sports,” they wrote in the letter, according to the Daily Mail, “The precedent being set – one in which women do not have a protected and equitable space to compete – is a direct threat to female athletes in every sport. What are the boundaries?”
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