In a recent turn of events, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) has been compelled to issue an apology and rescind awards from transgender swimmer Lia (Will) Thomas.
This follows a federal investigation that found the university in violation of Title IX for permitting Thomas to compete on the women's team. The awards and titles that were previously claimed by Thomas have now been rightfully returned to their original female competitors. Moreover, UPenn has taken the step of prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in women's sports.
However, Liz Wheeler, host of BlazeTV's "The Liz Wheeler Show," is skeptical of UPenn's motives. "UPenn is not sincere in their apologies," Wheeler asserts. "They're just trying not to have their federal dollars taken away from them by President Trump."
To delve deeper into the situation, Wheeler invited former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan onto her show. Scanlan shared her firsthand experience of training with and competing against Thomas.
Scanlan vividly remembers the first time she met Will Thomas, who was a member of UPenns mens swim team before identifying as a female. She was a sophomore, just 19 years old, when a team meeting was called and Thomas was introduced.
He just looks at us and goes, Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I'm transgender; I'll be joining your team next season. Please refer to me now with she/her pronouns, and I'll let you guys know soon what I'm going to rename myself to, but for now, you can keep calling me Will, Scanlan recalls. I actually thought this was a prank. I thought [my coach] was just going to say, Gotcha!
However, it soon became clear that this was not a prank. Anyone who did not use female pronouns when referring to Thomas was branded as hateful and transphobic. Interestingly, many of the female swimmers welcomed Thomas with enthusiasm. I saw my teammates clapping. They were like, We're so proud of you. We're so excited for you being your authentic self. Thank you for sharing this with us, Scanlan recounts.
Scanlan, puzzled by the situation, consulted the NCAA handbook and discovered the transgender inclusion handbook. It states that if a man wants to join a women's swim team, he just has to suppress his testosterone for one year [and] hes good to go in any women's sport."
As the season commenced, Scanlan and her teammates were not only compelled to practice with and compete against Thomas, but they were also required to share a locker room with him. We were dressing in the locker room with him 18 times per week, Scanlan notes, highlighting that swimming necessitates changing in and out of swimsuits, unlike other sports.
That aspect was really, really hard, Scanlan admits.
Some teammates expressed their discomfort about sharing a locker room with Thomas, but these concerns were always voiced privately to avoid accusations of bigotry. Publicly, most swimmers, even those who privately pleaded with coaches not to room them with Thomas at travel meets, applauded UPenn for progressing transgender rights.
However, Scanlan was open about her opposition to Thomas competing on the women's team. She even conducted some anonymous interviews with media outlets to raise awareness about the injustice the UPenn womens team was facing.
When it was revealed that she was behind these covert interviews, Scanlan was confronted by her progressive teammates. One of them sent her a text message that, in retrospect, she finds amusing, but at the time, left her feeling really alone and isolated in dealing with this.
In the aftermath of UPenns apology and the restoration of awards to the rightful winners, Scanlan has not heard from many of her teammates. Most of them agree with me. They just don't really feel comfortable saying that or sharing that, she says. This reluctance to speak up, she believes, is why the crazies were able to put in these nasty, wild policies.
Scanlan's story sheds light on the complexities of the situation and her role in advocating for womens rights. It is a testament to the challenges faced by those who dare to question the status quo, even when it infringes upon the rights of others.
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