Two and a half months ago, Lia Thomas won a women's 500-yard freestyle event, making her the first openly transgender athlete to accomplish such a feat in the NCAA Divison I level competition. The controversial victory was just one of many, as Thomas's dominant run against biological women dates back nearly three calendar years.
The success story of Lia Thomas has garnered an onslaught of support from the LGBTQ+ community but it has also prompted a litany of naysayers to challenge the validity of her dominance because of the fact that she began her career in collegiate sports competing as a man. Nevertheless, ever since Thomas began racking up championships in women's sports, a variety of parents, school officials and politicians have voiced their displeasure with the results.
On Wednesday (the first day of Pride Month), those who oppose Lia Thomas scored a major victory because Republicans passed a bill that would make it a requirement for transgender women to undergo a "genital examination" as well as present verification of their "God-given" gender in order to prevent them from taking the field against biological women.
House Bill 61 (aka Save Women's Sports Act) is being sponsored by Rep. Don Jones and it outlines that if a female athlete's “sex is disputed,” they must present a doctor’s note “indicating the participant’s sex” that is contingent upon their “internal and external reproductive anatomy, normal endogenously produced levels of testosterone,” and an “analysis of the participant’s genetic makeup.” Ohio isn't the only state that is trying to implement such as rule as several others are also in the midst of a similar process.
If the "Save Women's Sports Act" is instituted, it would only apply to transgender women in high school and college sports. For more on this development, stay tuned.
Source: Yahoo! Sports
