A famous university in America issued a new order after Donald Trump‘s orders. After Trump’s strict rules for transgender rights, it has been another matter of concern that has sparked widespread debate in the country.
Recently, the University of Pennsylvania will remove Lia Thomas’s women’s swimming titles and records after a federal investigation found her participation violated Title IX, the law ensuring equal opportunities in education and athletics.
Thomas, who identifies as a transgender woman, became the first openly trans athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship in 2022. However, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled that allowing her to compete on the women’s team unfairly impacted cisgender female athletes.
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Following Donald Trump’s unexpected ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports, the NCAA updated its policy to block participation based on biological sex at birth, as Lia urged them to keep fighting for their rights. Meanwhile, critics argued that Thomas had an unfair advantage due to her biological sex at birth.
Still, her supporters said she followed all existing NCAA and university guidelines and deserved to compete like any other athlete.
As per The Irish Star, before her transition, Lia Thomas competed for three years on the men’s swim team at Penn. After joining the women’s team, she broke several records and became a symbol in the national debate over transgender participation in women’s sports.
She also participated in the Ivy League and NCAA championships, where she bagged several medals and gained media interviews with top channels. Thomas also tried to compete in the Olympics as a woman but was denied by World Aquatics.
The University President J. Larry Jameson explained that while Penn followed NCAA and Title IX guidelines when Thomas competed, the new changes in recent times have put increased pressure on colleges like the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). The Trump administration reportedly told the university authorities that their federal funding will be stopped if they do not update and abide by the new policies.
As a result, the university has decided to remove all the swimming records of Lia Thomas and give her titles to the runners-up candidates. They will also issue a formal apology to female swimmers who were displaced in rankings. Penn will now only allow athletes to compete based on the sex they were assigned at birth.
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Since this decision has made things more complicated for Lia Thomas, she vowed to keep fighting for trans rights. “I’m going to keep fighting as much as I can,” Thomas said during a Zoom appearance at the HiTOPS trans youth forum, according to Outkick. “To take on the challenges ahead, we need to stand together and support one another,” she added during a Zoom appearance at the HiTOPS trans youth forum.
While Lia Thomas’s competitors like Riley Gaines, who tied Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championships, contested the NCAA’s previous policy, which previously argued that her being in women’s sports violates fairness policies, her supports believe Thomas followed all the rules at the time and should not be punished now.
As per several reports, it remains clear that all government identification papers in America, like passports, will only have the choice to select gender on the basis of biological reality and not self-assessed gender identity. Trump has also strictly urged that America will only recognise two official genders, male and female, upon his return for a second term in January 2025
This new change is expected to impact sports rules at many schools and organizations across the country. Only time will tell how Lia Thomas navigates her swimming career after this “life-changing” decision.
