Controversial Thomas’ triumphwhich was still racing among men in 2019, caused a storm in the sports world.
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Governor DeSantis has posted a statement on Twitter in which he strongly condemned the actions of the transgender swimmer among biological women.
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By allowing men to compete in women’s sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud.
In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota’s Emma Weyant as the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle. pic.twitter.com/tBmFxFE3q6
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 22, 2022
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“Men should not compete with women like Emma Weyant and rob women and girls of achievements, awards and scholarships,” the American politician wrote.
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DeSantis accused the NCAA of trying to destroy women’s sport and disagreed that the NCAA was elevating ideology over biology. “By allowing men to compete with women, they ridicule championships and encourage fraud,” the statement said.
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Thomas swims for the University of Pennsylvania. She competed in the men’s team as Will Thomas for three years, but then began to identify as a woman and in 2020 joined the women’s team.
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In the meantime, she underwent hormonal therapy. According to NCAA rules, Thomas had to take hormones for at least a year to swim.
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Physiology experts point out that the male and female bodies are not comparable in terms of sports performance and hormonal treatment can not change that, especially in the case of Thomas, who started using hormones only in the postpubertal period.
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Lia Thomas spent 21 years of his life as a man.
He started competing against women in swimming this year and became a national champion.
Our daughter’s sports are not a plan B for failed male athletes.
— American Principles 🇺🇸 (@approject) March 18, 2022
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The difference between male and female swimming is also evident in the language of numbers. When Thomas was still a Will and racing men, she was ranked 554th in the NCAA and 65th in the 500. After the transition between women, it is fifth on the 200th and first on the 500th.
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Save women’s sports
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America is on the verge of transgender athletes, but at the same time it is looking for a way out of the current schizoid situation. It is clear that letting Thomas race among women is a purely political and ideological decision and has nothing to do with the idea of sport in the spirit of Coubertain’s ideals.
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One of the most vocal opponents of the NCAA’s actions is coach and former athlete Linda Blade. The Canadian has a doctorate in kinesiology and is a proponent of gender competition. Blade co-founded the #SaveWomensSports movement.
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Members of the movement protested in front of the hall before the start of the Atlantic Championship. However, flags with the slogan about saving women’s sports were also visible in the auditorium during the championship.
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Blade has long sought to open a discussion on transgender athletes in academia. However, her efforts often run into opposition from human rights activists from American universities.
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The pressure from activists and inclusion supporters is enormous in America. Immediately after Thomas’s triumph, a photograph of Thomas standing alone on the podium flew around the world, while the other medal swimmers took pictures with Brooke Forde, fourth.
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But a wave of criticism has come down in the public sphere for the protest gesture. Therefore, Sullivan described the situation differently than was obvious from the photo. According to Sullivan, only women wanted to take pictures together as friends.
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She said in an official statement on the social network Twitter that Thomas deserved recognition because she won and, like everyone else, trained hard, and that women’s sport has other real threats such as sexual abuse, unequal pay and a lack of women in management positions.
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Prior to the start of the championship, 16 members of the University of Pennsylvania team addressed a letter to the NCAA requesting that the Thomas not be allowed to compete in the championship.
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In the letter, the women supported Thomas’s decision to become a woman, but pointed out that gender identity was something other than biological sex.
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In addition, a total of ten U.S. states have passed laws that prohibit transsexuals from competing in categories that do not match their innate gender.
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