Former college athletes are outraged over the University of Pennsylvania’s decision to nominate transgender athlete Lia Thomas for the NCAA “Woman of the year” award.
During an interview on “Fox & Friends First,” Kim Jones, a former All-American tennis player whose daughter competed against Thomas, called the nomination “humiliating” and “devastating,” accusing the school of sending a message that “women don’t matter.”
“[The message is] they’re not even worthy of dignity and comfort in their locker rooms. And this nomination is just the embodiment of that message. It’s really frustrating to understand where the current NCAA and Ivy League and especially Penn’s stance is on the value of women in modern society,” she said.
Jones said that she feels that the training spent by college athletes is “dismissed” when biological males can compete against them with unfair physical advantages.
“That’s what all that effort, all those hours, all that hard work and the journey that was supposed to be so empowering and fulfilling has been reduced to something that people think is a sideshow. It’s really frustrating,” she said.
Thomas was nominated for the NCAA award, which recognizes female student-athletes.
This comes as the transgender athletes’ victory in sporting events has been the subject of debate about whether biologically born male athletes should compete against natural women in sporting events.
A letter attributed to 16 members of the UPenn’s women’s swimming team was published online earlier this year, denouncing Thomas’ involvement in the team.
“We fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to affirm her gender identity and to transition from a man to a woman. Lia has every right to live her life authentically,” read in the letter. “However, we also recognize that when it comes to sports competition, that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also denounced her when she won the NCAA 500-yard freestyle championship, saying Emma Weyant, who came in second, should’ve won instead.
“She earned that. We need to honor that appropriately,” DeSantis told reporters of Weyant. “The NCAA is basically takings efforts to destroy women’s athletics.”
Last year, DeSantis signed a law that banned transgender athletes from joining female teams.
“I can tell you this: in Florida, girls are going to play girls’ sports, and boys are going to play boys’ sports,” he said after signing the bill. “That’s what we’re doing, and we’re going to make sure that that’s the reality.”
