NCAA’s inclusion of transgender swimmer from Penn in national championship tournament draws protests, legislation; supporters back athlete at center of controversy

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Demonstrators denounced a transgender swimmer’s participation in a women’s collegiate swimming and diving championship, drawing counterprotesters. The uproar occurred amid debate over the rules for trans athletes in college sports and the introduction of several bills in state legislatures barring trans women and girls from participating on teams that align with their gender identities.

Key Players

The NCAA, a nonprofit organization, oversees college athletics for more than 500,000 student-athletes in nearly 1,100 member schools across the United States.

Lia Thomas, a Division I swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania, competed for the men’s team for three seasons before joining the women’s team for the 2021-22 season after undergoing hormone therapy. In her first year on the women’s team, Thomas shattered school and Ivy League records in multiple freestyle events and dominated her competition, Sports Illustrated reported.

Save Women’s Sports (SWS), founded in 2019, describes itself as “a coalition that seeks to preserve biology-based eligibility standards for participation in female sports.”

Concerned Women for America (CWA) a legislative action committee that aims to “bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy,” runs Young Women for America (YWA), an initiative that promotes the organization’s values on college campuses.

Further Details

Previous NCAA rules permitted trans athletes to participate in competitions that align with their gender identities after they undergo a year of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). In May 2019, Thomas began HRT, Sports Illustrated reported. 

But as of Jan. 19, 2022, new guidelines allowed each sport’s governing body to determine its own policies on trans athletes. 

“We are steadfast in our support of transgender student-athletes and the fostering of fairness across college sports,” John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University and chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, stated. “It is important that NCAA member schools, conferences and college athletes compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment and can move forward with a clear understanding of the new policy.”

On Feb. 1, USA Swimming also issued new criteria for trans athletes competing at the elite level, setting a ceiling level of testorone for a three-year period and requiring a medical panel to determine whether a trans athlete has a competitive advantage over cisgender competitors.

“I’m a woman, so I belong on the women’s team,” Thomas told Sports Illustrated. “Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets.”

Groups of current and former athletes have championed changing the NCAA’s rules for trans athletes, while others have stood by Thomas. On Feb. 1, 2022, an unidentified group of Penn women’s swimmers issued a statement in support of Thomas, Sports Illustrated reported. “We want to express our full support for Lia in her transition,” they said. “We value her as a person, teammate, and friend. We recognize this is a matter of great controversy and are doing our best to navigate it while still focusing on doing our best in the pool and classroom.”

Two days later, in a separate letter to Ivy League officials, some of Thomas’s teammates wrote that she should not be allowed to participate. According to Sports Illustrated, Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar, who runs a women’s sports advocacy group focused on Title IX issues, organized the letter.

“Lia has every right to live her life authentically,” they wrote. “However, we also recognize that when it comes to sports competition … the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity. Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over [her] competition in the women’s category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female.”

On Feb. 10, a group of more than 300 current and former NCAA, Team USA, and international swimmers and divers signed an open letter to the NCAA, backing Thomas. “With this letter, we express our support for Lia Thomas, and all transgender college athletes, who deserve to be able to participate in safe and welcoming athletic environments,” they wrote. “We urge you to not allow political pressure to compromise the safety and wellbeing of college athletes everywhere.”

Outcome

Thomas wins Division I swimming championship in Atlanta, competition draws protests 

On March 17, Thomas became the first trans athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship, held at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, clinching the title for the 500-yard women’s freestyle. 

Earlier that day, more than 20 demonstrators from SWS and YWA protested Thomas’ participation there in the women’s category, ESPN reported. “We’re not going to stand by and let women be displaced,” Annabelle Rutledge, the national director for YWA, said. “We must fight for their rights.”

A dozen counterprotesters — Georgia Tech undergraduate and graduate students — gathered across the street. “Say it loud, say it clear: Trans athletes are welcome here!” they chanted, according to The Washington Post.

CWA files Title IX complaint against university

That same day, CWA filed a Title IX complaint against Penn for engaging in “sex discrimination” by allowing Thomas to compete on the women’s team. “The future of women’s sports is at risk and the equal rights of female athletes are being infringed,” Penny Nance, CWA president and CEO, stated.

Virginia Tech swimmer weighs in

After Thomas’s win, Reka Gyorgy, a swimmer on the Virginia Tech women’s team who failed to make the championships, shared a statement on her private Instagram story. 

She critiqued NCAA rules that allowed Thomas to compete against athletes who are “biologically women,” Fox News reported. Though Gyorgy believes Thomas is no different from “any other D1 swimmer who has woken up at 5am her entire life for morning practice,” she felt her spot at the meet had been unfairly taken from her.

“I know you could say I had the opportunity to swim faster and make the top 16, but this situation makes it a bit different and I can’t help but be angry or sad. It hurts me, my team and other women in the pool,” Gyorgy wrote on March 20. “Every event that transgender athletes competed in was one spot taken away from biological females throughout the meet,” she continued. 

States pass slew of laws barring trans athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports

On March 25, Utah state legislators overrode a veto by Gov. Spencer Cox (R), who had partly rejected H.B. 11, a bill banning transgender girls from playing sports in K-12 public education on the grounds that it affected just four students across the state, only one of whom played on a girls’ team.

“Four kids and only one of them playing girls sports. That’s what all of this is about. Four kids who aren’t dominating or winning trophies or taking scholarships. Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are a part of something. Four kids trying to get through each day. Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few,” Cox wrote.

On March 30, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) respectively signed the Save Women’s Sports Act and S.B. 1165. Both ban transgender students from participating in girls’ school sports.   

“We all saw the imagery with the Penn swimmer and we don’t want that to happen to this young lady right here beside me when she grows up and gets into high school,” Stitt said, gesturing to one of the young girls surrounding him as he signed the bill into law. “We’re making that stand today in the state of Oklahoma.”

On April 13, the Kentucky state legislature voted to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) veto of S.B. 83, which prohibits trans women and girls from playing on sports teams that align with their gender. In 2022, Kentucky was the fifth state to enact such a law. Debate over the measures have repeatedly referenced Thomas.

State Sen. Robby Mills (R), a co-sponsor of S.B. 83, invited University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who swam against Thomas in an NCAA championship race, to strengthen the case for the measure, NBC News reported.

“I know I speak for the majority of female athletes across every NCAA sport when I say biological males should not be competing against women,” Gaines said. “It’s crucial for the NCAA to open its eyes and recognize the irrefutable damage being done to everything Title IX stands for: equity, fairness and creating opportunities for women to succeed at an elite level and in life.”