Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas hit back at women who don’t want her to participate in women’s sports, claiming they were too afraid to “fully manifest” their “implicit bias” and play it off as half support.
The former University of Pennsylvania athlete joined first-time NCAA transgender swimmer Schuyler Bailar on his Dear Schuyler podcast on Monday to discuss the division over whether or not to include trans women athletes on women’s sports teams.
Thomas, who drew masses of criticism during swim season, has called her former teammates and critics bogus feminists who push transphobic values under the guise of “supporting women.”
“They’re like, ‘Oh, we respect Lia as a woman, as a trans woman, whatever, we respect her identity, we just don’t think it’s fair.’
‘You can’t really have that half support. Like I respect you as a woman here, but not here,” the NCAA gold medalist said in a promotional clip for the podcast, posted to Instagram.
“They use the guise of feminism to push transphobic beliefs. I think a lot of people in that camp kind of have an implicit bias against transgender people, but they don’t, I think, want to fully manifest or voice that. And so they just try to play it off as this kind of half support.
“You can’t do that, you can’t kind of break me into little pieces as a person.”
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Lia Thomas, who faced masses of criticism during swim season, has called her former teammates and critics bogus feminists who propagate transphobic values under the guise of “supporting women.”
Bailar agreed with the controversial athlete, saying, “They’re coming out of… this whole protection” “protect women’s sports.” [which] has become a very big movement and they do it under the guise of feminism. “Oh, we’re just feminists, we’re just fighting for women,” and if someone says that, it’s always me [like]”Okay, you’re fighting for women by excluding women, so that’s not fighting for women.”
The athletes discussed how black women faced the same criticism as transgender women now, saying that people “don’t want a woman to win who doesn’t look like you or who doesn’t fit your version of femininity.”
Bailar went on to say that feminism has become “warped” and “turned to excluding women” and reducing them to “reproductive ability.”
“Ultimately everyone – under a true feminist – everyone is trying to come together to kind of break down these patriarchal ideals of what a woman is and who can be a woman and open that up to the very wide range of possibilities that are out there, Thomas said.
The parents of Thomas’s own teammates wrote a letter to the NCAA in December demanding that the rules allowing the young transgender athlete to compete be changed, stating that “the integrity of women’s sport is at stake here.” stands’.
One of Thomas’s biggest critics is former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who recently asked a contender if it broke her heart to see women lose opportunities to transgender women
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and Riley Gaines share the stage at an NCAA meeting
“This is where the integrity of women’s sport is at stake,” they wrote in the letter obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. “The precedent being set — one in which women have no protected and equitable space to compete — is a direct threat to female athletes in any sport. What are the limits? How does this align with the NCAA’s commitment to providing a fair environment for student-athletes?
It is the responsibility of the NCAA to handle the matter with an official statement. “As a governing body, it is unfair and irresponsible to hand over responsibility to Lia, Lia’s teammates, Lia’s coaches, UPenn Athletics and the Ivy League. And it’s unfair and irresponsible to Lia to let the media dictate the story without the cooperation of the NCAA.”
One of Thomas’s biggest critics is former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who recently asked a contender if it broke her heart to see women lose opportunities to transgender women.
Lia Thomas [was] said, “It breaks my heart to see trans kids miss out on opportunities.” Replace that with the word woman – does it still break Thomas’s heart to see women miss out on opportunities?’ Gaines continued rhetorically Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Thomas said a “true feminist” would work for everyone to “come together to kind of break down these patriarchal ideals of what a woman is.”
Earlier this month, Gaines also called Thomas “selfish” and said she showed “utter disregard for women” after the transgender swimmer, who competed as a man for three years, pleaded with President Joe Biden to protect trans athletes in the sport.
Gaines tweeted, “This recording is selfish and shows total disregard for women. The Biden administration is actively and aggressively working to pass laws that would eliminate decent and fair treatment of women in sports.”
Gaines was disgruntled after Thomas appeared in a video announcing Biden’s proposal to change the current Title IX civil rights law, which prohibits gender discrimination in schools.
She said trans athletes should be able to participate in school competitions without exception.
Biden’s planned amendment prohibits schools from imposing blanket benches on trans athletes in kindergarten through eighth grade.
In the roughly 90-second clip, Thomas says the government’s rule doesn’t go far enough in protecting transgender athletes.
Thomas’s own teammates and their parents wrote a letter to the NCAA in December demanding that it change the rules that have allowed the young transgender athlete to compete, stating that “here is the integrity of women’s sport is at stake’
The bill, which is an amendment to Title IX — the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex — would bar states from imposing a blanket ban on transgender athletes who compete against their non-biological sex in grades K-8.
However, it would not prevent such bans against older trans athletes, who are in high school and college.
Thomas, who competed on the University of Pennsylvania men’s swim team before transitioning into the girls’ locker rooms, says in the video that protections against trans athletes should extend beyond high school.
Thomas said the proposed rule is a “good start” but “not enough.”
This rule is a good start. However, it’s not enough. In this time of intense anti-transgender opposition, the trans community needs explicit protection from discrimination in order to live our lives freely and equally,” said Thomas.
“All trans kids deserve the chance to compete and play in the sports they love without compromising who they are.”
The national swimming champion, who wore a tank top that read “trans athletes belong in the sport” in the video, is encouraging others to urge the Biden administration to change the rule so that all trans athletes, regardless of age, be included in it.