University bans transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and strips her of titles
A US university has taken steps to ban Lia Thomas and revoke her titles as Donald Trump's crackdown on transgender athletes competing in women's sports continues.
Trump has made it clear during his time in the Oval Office that he only recognises two genders, and that he doesn't support transgender rights, although his plan to ban passports which recognise non-binary as a gender status were blocked by a federal judge earlier this year.
However, his administration has had more success with its plans to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports, after the US Department of Education announced the agreement recently.
In recent months, some cis female athletes have taken a stand against transgender opponents in events such as fencing and disc golf, despite neither of those sports having any real athletic advantage based on gender.
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But after a federal investigation, which stemmed from Lia Thomas' success, the 26-year-old swimmer has now been banned by UPenn, who also apologised to swimmers who lost records and titles to the transgender swimmer.
Their website has already been updated to show the newly-recognised winners from these events, with Thomas' record times also revoked.
The website stated: “Competing under eligibility rules in effect at the time, Lia Thomas set program records in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle during the 2021-22 season.”
Penn President J. Larry Jameson added: “While Penn’s policies during the 2021-2022 swim season were in accordance with NCAA eligibility rules at the time, we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules. We recognise this and will apologise to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
Personalised apology letters were also sent out to each of the athletes who came up against Thomas, with Jameson stating that the school has always followed changes to eligibility guidelines, which were altered drastically earlier this year after Trump started his second term as president.
The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes in February, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth.
Jameson added: "Our commitment to ensuring a respectful and welcoming environment for all of our students is unwavering. At the same time, we must comply with federal requirements, including executive orders, and NCAA eligibility rules, so our teams and student-athletes may engage in competitive intercollegiate sports.”
Meanwhile, education secretary Linda McMahon called it a victory for women and girls in a statement.
She said: “The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s (the prohibition of sex-based discrimination in schools or educational establishments) proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law."
Topics: Donald Trump, LGBTQ, US News
James Moorhouse