Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania made NCAA history Thursday after annihilating the competition in the 500-free swim to become the first known transgender athlete to capture a Division I championship in any sport. But as the accolades continue to pile up, so do the demands for her removal from women's competition.
As a result, the event that Lia Thomas ultimately won was attended by protestors both inside and outside of the venue, many of whom were parents of the other female contestants. Shirts and signs vividly displayed their displeasure with the fact that Thomas was eligible to compete. The demonstrators were met with some resistance of their own as many of Thomas's supporters also attended the event with picket signs. The cultural battle didn't stop there because when news broke of Lia Thomas's victory, a war of words exploded on Twitter between the opposing sides. Two journalists, in particular, made it very clear that they were against Lia Thomas competing against biological women.
"I have looked at this Lia Thomas situation objectively, with an open mind and really read as much as possible on it," wrote Colin Dunlap of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. "It will never make sense that Penn and the NCAA let Thomas compete with women. It just never will. And it serves as an incredibly scary precedent."
Kimberly Ross of the Washington Examiner shared a similar viewpoint on Twitter by writing, "Lia Thomas is a male. He won not because his skills improved, but because he’s stronger and faster than the actual female competitors. Period. It’s not a positive. It is NOT progress. It’s a slap in the face to women and girls, and it pisses me off. I don’t accept it."
Scroll up to view the Tweets by the two journalists and the responses from some of the people who opposed them.
Source: Fox News
