The whole country is outraged—we are supposed to think—over biological male swimmer Lia Thomas kicking the crap out of the women in his sport. He’s allowed to do this because “equality” or something. We all know the argument that “transwomen are women” and other such nonsense. Only an idiot could watch Thomas swim next to girls (or even stand next to them) and claim “yeah, that’s a woman.”
Lia Thomas is a male. He won not because his skills improved, but because he’s stronger and faster than the actual female competitors. Period. It’s not a positive. It is NOT progress. It’s a slap in the face to women and girls, and it pisses me off. I don’t accept it. pic.twitter.com/LW2o1AR1OG
— Kimberly Ross 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@SouthernKeeks) March 18, 2022
The parents of the girls competing against Thomas are writing letters in opposition. Some of Thomas’s teammates have spoken out, anonymously, about the harassment and unfairness. But none of that is what’s needed to end this charade. The women of swimming had the power to stop this sham on a dime, but they refused to do it and now it’s too late.
My finals spot was stolen by Lia Thomas, who is a biological male. Until we all refuse to compete nothing will change. Thanks for all the support retweets and follows I wont stop fighting.
— Reka🏊♀️ (@RekaGyorgy_) March 20, 2022
Every woman forced to compete against Thomas should have stayed on the block at every meet. But now the season is over, the NCAA championships are over, and Thomas will graduate having competed for an entire season without protest. The precedent is set. The time for talking was over after Thomas beat the women in the very first meet he was allowed to compete in. The NCAA and the colleges would not listen to reason. So instead of watching their sport die a slow death, the female competitors should have shut it down. Who cares about facing sanctions or ridicule? This was their moment to save not only their sport for female competitors only, but all of women’s sports, and they failed.
Related: Real Female Swimmer on Lia Thomas
If the athletes themselves didn’t care enough to put themselves on the line to stop this farce, why should we care? If fear of being called a “transphobe” made the girls jump in the water and undress in front of a dude with a penis then I’m glad they lost. They don’t deserve the title “winner” with such a lack of courage.
The women on Penn’s swim team are unfortunately the ones responsible for not doing the right thing. They didn’t ask to be the ones in the spotlight, but history doesn’t call the prepared or the fittest all the time to rise to the occasion. Most of the time, it’s the unprepared and the least equipped who find themselves at a crossroads where one way leads to easy acceptance and the other to dangerous glory.
Imagine what would have happened in the living rooms of America if Lia Thomas dove into the water and no one else followed. Imagine the TIME magazine cover of women standing in unison out of the water in protest against the male takeover of their sport. Now, that would have been worth seeing. It would never have been forgotten, much like when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in protest of racial inequality at the 1968 Olympics. History was waiting to be made here. and those in the position to make it chose not to. Instead, TIME looked like this.
Lia Thomas, the University of Pennsylvania senior who entered the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships as the top seed, had a season-best time of 4 minutes, 33.24 secondshttps://t.co/bCZjCcWvlC
— TIME (@TIME) March 18, 2022
Yes, I know that the female swimmers were threatened with expulsion if they protested Thomas’s involvement in their sport, but where is the fighting spirit that would say: “Go ahead. Make my day,” and then call some high-powered attorneys more than happy to take some university money? It’s a battle that must be fought, but it requires real courage to get it started. This battle hasn’t even begun. Right now, the enemy is sacking the city and the city-dwellers are standing there dumbstruck, unable to move. Another swim meet must not happen where women willingly swim against a man.
When injustice is happening, it is not brave to go on suffering in silence. It’s not praiseworthy to speak anonymously to reporters, terrified that your identity will be leaked. It’s not courageous to have Mommy and Daddy write a letter on your behalf and let them take the heat. If you want to save your sport, then quit screwing around and organize a real protest. Be women protecting women.
When this happens again with another male swimmer encroaching on the women’s team, the answer is to resist as one united front. Let’s hope the next group of female swimmers come equipped for the battle.
