16 Female Swimmers Say Trans Teammate Lia Thomas Should Not Be Allowed To Compete, Fear Retaliation For Speaking Up

Sixteen women on the University of Pennsylvania swim team said their transgender teammate, Lia Thomas, should not be allowed to compete in the women’s category, The Washington Post reported.

The teammates sent a letter to the university and to Ivy League officials asking that they not take legal action against new NCAA rules which would block Thomas from competing in the 2022 championships, according to the Post. The women said they supported Thomas’s decision to live as a transgender woman, but they say “the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity.”

Lia Thomas, formerly known as Will Thomas, competed on the Penn men’s team for three years before proclaiming to be a woman and competing in the women’s category. Thomas now dominates women’s swimming at the national level.