Lia Thomas Says She Doesn’t ‘Need Anybody’s Permission’ to Compete as a Woman – Opinion

Controversial transgender swimming star Lia Thomas spoke out Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” saying trans people don’t pose a threat to women’s sports. “I knew there would be scrutiny against me if I competed as a woman,” she said. “I was prepared for that but I also don’t need anybody’s permission to be myself and do the sport I love.”

Thomas competed for three years on the men’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania, with middling results. She began hormone replacement therapy at the end of her sophomore year and joined the women’s team for her senior year. It was no surprise that she broke many records and took home the NCCA title in 500-yard freestyle.

Thomas, who has now finished her college swimming career, told Juju Chang that she intends to continue.

Swimming is something I will continue to do. It’s been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through.

When Thomas says in the first quote of this article that she doesn’t “need anybody’s permission,” she might want to re-think that one. In fact, she will need to obtain permission from the International Olympic Committee. They have constantly changing, complex rules and regulations about transgender athletes competing at the Olympics. The IOC has ruled that each sport will determine transgender policy. That’s leadership for you, folks.)

Thomas is the victim of a disproportionate advantage that many consider unfair. Thomas faced a huge backlash. (I’m trying to be objective here, but really, who with a straight face can say she doesn’tHave an apparent physical advantage? C’mon, man.) The silence was broken by her colleagues, who slowly spoke out.

Thomas was not bothered by the critical letters from 16 of her teammates. The letter was addressed to Ivy League officials and school officials. When asked to respond, Thomas doesn’t sound like she gives a rip about her teammates or all the female athletes she’s impacted. She flatly claims, “Trans women are not a threat to women’s sports.” She goes on to charge that if you don’t believe biological males should be competing against females, then you don’t support trans people:

You can’t go halfway and be, like, “I support trans women and trans people, but only to a certain point.” Where if you support trans women as women they’ve met all the NCAA requirements, then I don’t know if you can really say something like that.

She also claims that trans people don’t transition for competitive advantage and that it’s “not something that ever factors into our decisions.” Whatever her intent may be, it’s still clear she has an edge.

According to Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic, who appeared on the same “GMA” episode:

There is going to be some loss to skeletal muscle mass, there is going to be some increase in body fat — those would be the two most obvious things. But things like hand size, lung size, feet size — that’s not going to change much. And of course, because as you know, swimming, it’s such an intense sport and people train so hard, that she is going to continue to have a significant exercise stimulus to those skeletal muscles.

Lia Thomas again isn’t impressed.

I’m not a medical expert, but there’s a lot of variation among cis female athletes. Cis women can be very tall, very muscular, or have higher testosterone levels than other cis female athletes. Should that not disqualify them from the competition?

Seriously, Lia? It’s absurd to say that strong-built women can be compared with men with hormone replacement therapy. Thomas complains then that she wouldn’t be allowed to compete with women if she was not permitted.

“In addition to not allowing the full athletic experience, that’s incredibly othering to trans people who already face immense discrimination in other parts of our lives,” she said. “To then again have this discrimination in sports and be, like, ‘Oh, OK, you can swim, but only over there, like in that lane.’ It’s very othering.”

A lot of people have wondered what’s been going on in Thomas’ head since the controversy began because she has not spoken out much. I was expecting to have some sympathy for her–she’s a human being after all, and there’s clearly a lot going on in that young brain. She has now spoken and I found her tone cold, disapproving, and privileged. I assumed she would acknowledge that the issue was complex, but no, to her it’s cut and dried, black and white, clear as day. I have nothing against trans people, and it’s not transphobic to acknowledge that biological men are stronger and bigger than biological women; it’s biology. Do you think she has ever shown any compassion for other girls whose hopes she shattered? Nope.

Her main focus was on herself, and she seemed to be able to see no one else.