Lia Thomas criticized for being nominated NCAA Woman of the Year

Tweet

Lia Thomas is a transgendered female which means she is biologically a male but has transitioned to living as a female. She competed as a male at UPenn for a few years before taking a year off to take testosterone-supressing drugs and transition to female. The NCAA allows transgender females to compete as women as long as their testosterone level is under a certain measurement. . . and this year Lia's was. While competing as a male swimmer at UPenn Lia's performance was average. She didn't reach "elite" standards until she began competing as a female. Many of her teammates and competitors from other schools felt that she had an unfair advantage. She went on to set records in several races and won a national championship. Now she could potentially (but probably won't) be named as NCAA Woman of the Year. This is an issue that I am all over the place on. I 100% support the right of transgender individuals to live their lives as the gender that they identify with. I don't consider them to be freaks, pedophiles, or mentally ill as so many people do these days. That being said there is a clear physiological difference between a 21 year old biological man's body and a 21 year old biological woman's body. If a biological male goes through puberty he will have a larger stature, be taller, have more muscle mass, etc. Supressing the production of testosterone after the fact will not negate that physiological development. I really don't think it is fair to have transgender males competing against biological females because there is just such a difference in body composition and structure. FINA which is the body that governs international swimming has updated their "gender inclusion policy" to state that only (biological male) swimmers who transitioned (to female) before the age of 12 will be allowed to compete in women's races. That seems fair to me in terms of people with similar body statures/composition competing on a level playing field. . . . . . the problem is that some transgender individuals do not feel comfortable "coming out" to their families, friends, doctors, etc. at such a young age. Most people, even those who are supportive of the trans community like myself, are not in favor of medical intervention until the individual is at least 18 years old. I had a student whose mother absolutely refused to allow him to take hormones or change his name until after he was 18. Making such a huge decision before the age of 12 seems ill-advised. On the flip side people will say that forcing someone who identifies as female to compete as a male could cause psychological harm or distress. I get that too. I guess if I had to pick a side I'd go with the FINA decision. It is unfair for people who went through puberty as males to then compete against biological females. Lia Thomas set several records this year with, in my opinion, an unfair advantage.