Free Republic

Trans-identified swimmer Lia Thomas, formerly known as Will, has filed a complaint against World Aquatics over the international swimming organization’s policies prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports.In a lawsuit filed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, Thomas is taking issue with the swimming organization’s 2022 decision to prohibit men from competing in competitions designated for women only.In a statement to The Guardian, World Aquatics Executive Director Brent Nowicki said the policy “was rigorously developed on the basis of advice from leading medical and legal experts, and in careful consultation with athletes.”“World Aquatics remains confident that its...

The case is unlikely to be resolved in time for this summer's Olympic Games in Paris but could have massive ramifications in the years to come. (LifeSiteNews) – Gender-confused University of Pennsylvania swimmer William “Lia” Thomas is working with Canadian law firm Tyr behind the scenes to try to overturn the ban on males competing against females in the Olympics, according to a report in the UK’s Telegraph. Thomas, who “transitioned” to identifying as a female yet retains male genitalia and reportedly remained heterosexual (despite self-identifying as lesbian), has drawn headlines since 2022 for generating unease among his actual female...

Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele said in an interview this week that her former employer demanded she stop speaking about Will “Lia” Thomas, the male swimmer who identifies as “transgender” and competed against women at the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas won races and robbed women of opportunities. ... Steele made the revelation in an interview with women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas at the NCAA championships and tied against him. In the aftermath, Steele and another ESPN colleague, Sam Ponder, had spoken out against Thomas competing against women, which angered some at the company. “I was asked...

Former collegiate swimmer-turned-activist Riley Gaines accused Rep. Summer Lee of being a “misogynist” after the Pennsylvania Democrat derided the NCAA All-American’s testimony as “transphobic” and asked that it be stricken from the record during a fiery congressional hearing Tuesday. Lee, a member of the so-called “Squad” of far-left lawmakers, accused Gaines and other witnesses on the panel of being “transphobic” in her opening remarks while arguing in support of the Biden administration’s proposed rule changes to Title IX that would outlaw banning transgender students from participating on teams consistent with their gender identity. “It’s disappointing to me that although the...

Lia Thomas is a very disturbing — and disturbed — individual on a few levels. The most obvious one is that he was a mediocre swimmer at best until he decided to become a she and dominate in women's swimming to the detriment of actual women. William Thomas was not allowed to compete directly against women swimmers, but Lia Thomas was. And Lia has been unapologetic about not only hurting actual women with his cheating, but also by the inherently predatory nature of his presence in women's changing rooms. Then, of course, there's his deeply disturbing social media activity and...

Humans are essentially herd animals, finding safety in numbers. Most fear standing out and can easily be bullied into either silence or complicity. I don’t say this as an insult. It’s just a fact. For a long time, Americans have been socially bullied or economically coerced into accepting the “transgender” fiction. However, the tide seems to be shifting and, as brave people make a stand, others are learning to be brave. That’s the case with Paula Scanlan, who has gone from shy anonymity to open-faced, raw courage regarding UPenn’s psychological warfare against women swimmers who didn’t want to compete with...

The fight to keep women’s sports exclusively for biological women is just beginning and will be a long one. Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines brought the fight front and center when she was forced to compete with transgender athlete Lia Thomas. Now, Gaines has upped the ante in the fight to protect women’s and girls’ sports. She recently filed a $2 million lawsuit against Thomas, who was born William Thomas, citing cheating in order to win the national women’s swimming title, and exposing himself in a female locker room. When Lia Thomas began life, and eventually her swimming...

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova took a swing once again at NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas — this time for calling out people who claim to be feminists but only “half-support” her as a transgender swimmer. The Tennis star snapped back at Thomas over Twitter Wednesday, after the swimmer went on a podcast earlier in the week and described those who don’t fully support her right to swim competitively in events designated for women as “transphobic.” “NEWSFLASH Lia- it’s not fair. We shouldn’t have to explain it to you over and over. Also- stop explaining feminism to feminists….” Navratilova wrote.

Controversial transgender swimmer Lia Thomas slammed her “feminist” adversaries as misogynistic transphobes who reduce women to the value of their reproductive abilities. The NCAA gold medalist told fellow trans swimmer Schuyler Bailar that her own University of Pennsylvania teammates displayed fraud feministic beliefs when they wrote a 2022 letter asking the division to bar Thomas from competition. “They’re like, ‘Oh, we respect Lia, as a woman, as a trans woman or whatever, we respect her identity, we just don’t think it’s fair.’ You can’t really have that sort of half-support where you’re like, ‘Oh, I respect her as a woman...

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, has made been making headlines for using her voice to push back on men competing in women’s sports. On Thursday evening, that led to a group of militant transgender activists violently assaulting her and holding her hostage. Gaines, a 12-time All-American, entered the spotlight over the last year after being one of the few in her sport with the courage to publicly object to Lia Thomas’ domination of women’s swimming. Thomas is a biological man. While he was at the University of Pennsylvania, Thomas’ teammates suffered oppression and humiliation, being made to share a...

College swimming champion Riley Gaines has filmed herself being ambushed by screaming trans activists and was allegedly hit 'multiple times by a guy in a dress' following a speech about saving women's sports. A terrified Gaines, 23, was forced to barricade herself inside a room for around three hours at the San Francisco State University campus last night after a group of activists ambushed her. Gaines' husband, Louis Barker, said he had brief conversations with his wife while she was locked in the room for nearly three hours. 'She told me she was hit multiple times by a guy in...

ESPN honored transgender female athlete Lia Thomas in its “Celebrating Women’s History Month” segment. Former University of Kentucky 12-time All-American swimmer, Riley Gaines put ESPN on blast for the move. There’s history here between Thomas and Gaines.If anyone has the right to criticize Lia Thomas, it is Riley Gaines. Riley tied with Lia, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer, at the NCAA championships last year. Since then, Riley has been at the forefront of speaking out against transgender athletes competing against biological women at the highest levels of competition. Thomas’ participation in women’s swimming set off a firestorm. Gaines is...

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines criticized ESPN for honoring William “Lia” Thomas on Sunday with a short clip about the male swimmer’s domination of female swimming competition. “Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title,” Gaines tweeted. “He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible.” “If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You’re spineless @espn #boycottESPN,” Gaines wrote. Thomas previously swam against male athletes while at the University of Pennsylvania before taking hormone drugs and switching to...

ESPN has been condemned by a former champion college swimmer for including transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in their segment devoted to Women's History Month - describing the company as 'spineless'. Riley Gaines swam for the University of Kentucky, ending her college career in 2022 as 'one of the most decorated swimmers in program history,' according to the UK website. She became a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and a five-time SEC champion. Gaines competed against transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the NCAA championships in March 2022, and said the experience of racing Thomas - who raced in the...

Last year, University of Kentucky swimming star Riley Gaines spoke out about being displaced by trans UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas on the awards podium despite tying for fifth place in the NCAA women’s championship 200-meter freestyle race. Thomas received a trophy that day, while Gaines did not: Speaking with The Daily Wire in a phone conversation, Riley Gaines said that as NCAA officials were handing out trophies on the podium following the race, he said: “Hey, I just want to let you know, we only have one fifth place trophy, so yours will be coming in the mail. We went...

After years of being a mediocre swimmer on the men’s team, Thomas woke up one morning and identified as transgender, transitioned, joined the women’s team, and started breaking records against his female teammates and tournament competitors. Since robbing real women of opportunities wasn’t enough for him, he also disrespected his teammates by exposing his male genitalia to them in the locker room. And now, Riley Gaines, a former teammate of Thomas, is calling for changes to be made by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). “We were not forewarned beforehand that we would be sharing a locker room with Lia....

The All-American swimmer who became an outspoken advocate for women's athletics after competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is supporting Sen. Rand Paul's re-election bid, and she says Paul is "not afraid to fight for fairness" in a new campaign ad. "I trained from an early age, giving it my all to achieve my dream," Riley Gaines says in the 30-second ad. "And I accomplished it, becoming a 12-time All-American swimmer at the University of Kentucky. But for girls across America that dream is being taken away by men competing in women’s sports. Sadly, few stood up for me." "But...

A former college swimmer who competed against Lia Thomas has told of her 'extreme discomfort' at changing next to the transgender athlete because of Thomas's 'different parts.' In a new interview with Tucker Carlson on the host's Fox News Digital show, former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines accused organizers of not disclosing that Thomas would be using the female changing facilities. She told Carlson on the latest edition of 'Tucker Carlson Today: 'That's not something we were forewarned about, which I don't think is right in any means, changing in a locker room with someone who has different parts.'...

Will “Lia” Thomas, the biological male who swam on the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team this past school year, has lost his bid to become the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year.Each eligible school could submit the names of up to two female student-athletes for consideration before the selection committee chose 10 athletes from each division to determine the top 30 honorees. The NCAA selected Columbia University fencer Sylvie Binder to advance to the next round as the Ivy League conference winner.Thomas made headlines for crushing his competition in NCAA women’s swimming, sparking widespread outrage. After years of being...

Swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship earlier this year, has been nominated for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.