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Lia Thomas, a transgender NCAA champion swimmer who caused contention successful the athletics for competing against and winning races implicit women during the 2021-22 season, railed against an Iowa instrumentality that prohibited trans athletes successful women’s and girls’ sports.
Thomas spoke astatine the Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports lawsuit astatine Iowa State University earlier this month. Dr. Kelly Winfrey, an subordinate prof successful women sex studies astatine the school, moderated the event, and Dr. Christina Roberts, a pediatrics prof specializing successful teen health, joined One Iowa Policy and Advocacy Director Keenan Crow astatine the event.
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Penn Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas finishes eighth successful the 100 escaped astatine the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships astatine Georgia Tech successful Atlanta connected March 19, 2022. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
Their speech dove into Iowa’s prohibition connected trans inclusion successful pistillate sports, according to the Iowa State Daily. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the measure into instrumentality successful March 2022. Several others states person since enacted their ain laws against trans inclusion successful women’s sports arsenic well.
"With the prohibition present successful Iowa … the authorities is actively saying to trans kids, ‘You don’t merit to participate. You are really being excluded," the erstwhile UPenn swimmer said astatine the Nov. 13 event.
Thomas underscored the worth that participating successful sports added to the erstwhile swimmer’s mundane life.
"I had a team, a radical I could place with… it gave maine that belonging," Thomas said. "Athletics and, for me, the water, was conscionable … a spot of bid wherever I could permission my worries outside."
Crow said the prohibition connected trans inclusion successful sports barred transgender women and girls from the positivity sports tin provide.
"Excluding trans athletes from sports denies them the accidental to enactment successful a portion of beingness that teaches resilience, teamwork and community… there’s worth successful conscionable being connected a squad and being included, particularly for young radical who mightiness beryllium struggling to find acceptance," Crow said.
Roberts downplayed trans athletes having an vantage successful women's sports aft going done antheral puberty – pointing to studies that allegedly showed hormone therapy treatments lowering testosterone levels of pistillate athletes successful 2 years.
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, left, and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines respond aft finishing tied for 5th successful the 200 Freestyle finals astatine the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships connected March 18, 2022 astatine the McAuley Aquatic Center successful Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The treatment did not look to code the anguish pistillate athletes person felt competing with a transgender woman.
Paula Scanlan, who was Thomas’ teammate astatine UPenn, told the House Judiciary subcommittee past twelvemonth that Thomas’ beingness successful the locker country created a bigger contented for her arsenic a subsister of intersexual assault.
"This is real. I cognize women who person mislaid roster spots and spots connected the podium. I cognize of women with intersexual trauma who are adversely impacted by having biologic males successful their locker country without their consent. I cognize this due to the fact that I americium 1 of these women," Scanlan said.
"I was sexually assaulted connected June 3rd of 2016. I was lone 16 years old. I was capable to forgive my attacker but unit against women inactive exists. Let america not hide the viral #MeToo question that empowered pistillate victims to talk up. It casts a spotlight connected the wide prevalence of intersexual battle and abuse, including successful scholarly and acquisition institutions."
Riley Gaines has been warring to support women’s sports just since her engagement against Thomas successful the 2022 NCAA Championships.
Paula Scanlan, left, and Riley Gaines be the DailyWire+ Red Carpet Premiere of "Lady Ballers" connected Nov. 29, 2023 successful Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Davis/Getty Images for Bentkey Ventures)
She addressed Georgia authorities lawmakers connected the Special Committee connected Protecting Women’s Sports in August. As the erstwhile Kentucky aquatics prima work her missive addressed to Georgia Tech President Dr. Angel Cabrera, Gaines began to get affectional arsenic she talked astir the "sexual harassment" she experienced.
"We did not springiness our consent to beryllium exploited and exposed to a 6-foot-4 afloat bare man," she said. "Because you did nothing, that antheral walked into our women’s locker country astatine your assemblage and saw maine undress down to afloat nudity.
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"You allowed college women to beryllium traumatized and violated connected your field successful this way. Why didn’t you support us?"
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