UPenn is finally doing the right thing — and we should thank young women like Paula Scanlan and Riley Gaines who never gave up the fight
This week, the University of Pennsylvania apologized to female swimmers on their 2021-2022 roster who had to endure a season of changing next to a biological male in the locker room and competing with the strapping 6 foot 1 athlete Lia, formerly Will, Thomas.
They also restored any school records broken by Thomas, who became the first transgender athlete to win a division 1 NCAA title.
7 As part of a resolution, the University of Pennsylvania is now scrapping Lia Thomas' records.
USA TODAY Sports
This wasn't some heartfelt moral reckoning, rather to resolve a US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights investigation into the school's violation of Title IX for allowing a biological male to swim on the women's team.
But still, it's a win.
It's poignant that this about face was forced by Thomas because he was the figure who took the debate of trans athletes in women's sports from a niche issue to a full-on nuclear culture war battle.
This madness started relatively low key in 2017 when trans runner Andraya Yearwood took two titles in Connecticut high school girls track.
7 Former UPenn swimmer Paula Scanlan said the school silenced her and other female swimmers who called out the injustice of having Thomas swim with the women.
Courtesy of Paula Scanlan
The following year, another trans runner, Terry Miller also ran girl's track, and the pair's participation and wins sparked a debate — and a long legal battle — over the state policy that allowed trans athletes to compete in women's sports.
But in 2021, when broad-shouldered Thomas jumped into the pool to compete as a member of the women's team, the issue was rightfully pushed to the national forefront.
Thomas was a member of the men's team at UPenn for three years, then took off a year to transition. He met the NCAA's hormone therapy requirements at the time, but was clearly a man amongst girls.
His physical advantage was undeniable. And it was ridiculous.
7 While Lia Thomas' teammates were silenced by the University, the trans swimmer was splashed across the media and celebrated.
ABC News/YouTube
Not that many could vocalize it. At the time, athletes, including Thomas' teammate Paula Scanlan, were told to shut up and put up. According to Scanlan, UPenn told its lady swimmers that his participation was a 'non-negotiable,' and if they had any issues, they were provided with counseling services to 'help' them 'be OK with it.'
'The university wanted us to be quiet and they did it in a very effective way. They continued to tell us that our opinions were wrong and if we had an issue about it, we were the problem and it's frightening and your future job is on the line,' she said.
7 After tying with Lia Thomas in the 200 free at the NCAA championship, Riley Gaines became a vocal advocate for fairness in women's sports.
USA TODAY Sports
Not only was it shameful to make them change in front of a male and have him crush other female swimmers in the pool, but an Ivy League institution squashing dissent from women in service of a confused man, was even more insane. It showed the school's disconnect with their once prized liberal values.
But it wasn't just UPenn. Thomas was celebrated across social media and in various outlets. In 2023, ESPN even included the trans athlete in their women's history month segment.
In December of 2021, as Thomas was smashing records, a fed up Scanlan spoke to Outkick, but did so anonymously.
7 Lia Thomas towers over competitiors after winning hte 500 freestyle at hte NCAA tournament.
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
'Pretty much everyone individually has spoken to our coaches about not liking this,' she said at the time.
In March of that year, a group of Ivy League parents wrote an op-ed published in The Post speaking about the injustice. 'Parents, coaches, swimmers, and rational, logical people know this is grossly unfair.' The group wrote anonymously to 'protect their kids.'.
'Female swimmers have not consented to this. In fact, many of them expressly said no. What response did they receive?
Be quiet. A new ideology ruled. 'Transwomen are women' no exceptions; the girls' concerns: 'transphobic,' the piece noted.
7 At 6 foot 1 and having undergone male puberty, Lia Thomas possessed an obvious physical advantage
NCAA Photos via Getty Images
Even on twitter — this was months before Elon Musk bought the platform — people were shut down and cancelled for 'misgendering.' Common sense discourse was verboten and more and more dominant trans athletes emerged in various sports, including cycling and track and field.
And yet some courageous voices emerged — and thankfully never shut up. Riley Gaines swam for the University of Kentucky and tied with Thomas for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA tournament. She took up the cause at great personal risk.
7 In February, President Trump signed an executive order keeping biologial males out of women's sports.
Getty Images
Simply by calling for fairness in women's sports, she was instantly branded a transphobe and a bigot. Scanlan soon unmasked herself and joined Gaines. (And organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and Independent Women's Forum provided wind at the movement's back).
Now, close to 80% of Americans believe biological men shouldn't play in women's sports. But back then, to say such a thing was an act of courage and defiance.
They raised the red flags and started a tidal wave — and took loads of licks in the process.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
Athing Mu-Nikolayev eager for return to Hayward Field for 50th Prefontaine Classic
Athing Mu-Nikolayev hasn't raced an 800m in nearly a year, but is ready to run at the 50th Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field and on a track where she has authored so much history already at age 23. 'The lead up to this has been really great for me,' she said Thursday. 'I've definitely been in a good spot mentally. It's obviously not the most convenient for it to be my first 800m (since last July 19) in this really fast race, but I think I've kind of gotten over that point and just recognized that, hey, we are 1,000 percent really great where we're at with training. This is a great field. This is an opportunity for me.' Mu-Nikolayev will line up Saturday along with reigning world champion Mary Moraa of Kenya and Olympic silver medalist Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia, among others, at Pre (NBC and Peacock, 4-6 p.m. ET). Already at the new Hayward Field, Mu-Nikolayev has broken the NCAA 400m record (49.57, 2021), made her first Olympic team in a personal-best time (2021, en route to Tokyo Olympic 800m gold), won a world title (2022) and broken the American record in the 800m (1:54.97, 2023). She was the youngest U.S. woman to win individual Olympic track and field gold (age 19) since Wyomia Tyus in the 100m at the 1964 Tokyo Games. She is the youngest woman in history to own Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. Her Hayward magic wasn't there in 2024, however. She tore a hamstring about six weeks before the Olympic Trials. Then in the trials final in Eugene, Mu-Nikolayev and Raevyn Rogers' legs appeared to make contact about 200 meters into the race. Mu-Nikolayev fell. She got up and finished ninth. Her Olympic title defense was over before she could board a plane to Paris. She still went to the French capital with her training group and was a few miles away from Stade de France when the Olympic women's 800m final took place, according to the Southern California News Group. 'It was very hard,' said her coach, Bobby Kersee, according to the report. 'My philosophy of coaching is to put her right back in it, right away. And she tolerated me as a coach. It was tough for me, and it was tough for her.' A month after the Games, Mu-Nikolayev announced that she and Yegor Nikolayev were engaged. They got married this past March. Then she returned to competition with low-key races in April (using a 5000m as a 3000m workout) and May (1500m wins in 4:21 and 4:10). So Saturday will be Mu-Nikolayev's first time in a top-level meet since the Olympic Trials. She called it 'a really anticipated race,' but one that she's stressing over with results-based goals. 'Getting back to kind of the basics of what has made me one of the best 800m runners,' she said. 'Just feeling that on Saturday, I think, is the most important thing rather than hitting a specific time.' Nick Zaccardi,
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Riley Gaines has been one of Lia Thomas' most vocal opponents. She just scored two major wins in her anti-trans efforts
In a few short years, Riley Gaines has channeled a fifth-place tie with Lia Thomas – the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title – into a career as a vocal, conservative activist at the forefront of a movement to bar trans women from competing in sports. Gaines' efforts reached a peak this week, when the University of Pennsylvania acceded to the Trump administration's demands to receive federal funding by erasing all of Thomas' records and prohibiting future trans athletes from playing in female sports. The administration also required the university to issue personal letters of apology to each female swimmer it says were impacted by the school's decision to allow Thomas to compete – including Gaines. She shared her reaction to the news on social media. 'I have been relentless in this pursuit for the past three years, so to say I feel vindicated and again grateful for the leaders holding these people accountable, is an understatement,' Gaines said. 'I will be waiting for my apology from the University of Pennsylvania.' CNN has reached out to Gaines for comment. Gaines has previously said she is campaigning against what she calls 'gender ideology' and she views her work as defending the rights of women and girls to compete fairly in sports. But trans-rights advocates tell CNN her crusade has come at the expense of vilifying an incredibly small minority of students and athletes who may now no longer be able to compete in a team sport and achieve their dreams. And it all began with a disagreement over a trophy. As she made her final strokes in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships, Gaines drew level with Thomas. Just the day before, Thomas, who competed for UPenn, had become the first transgender athlete to win a Division I National Championship – in any sport – during the 500-yard freestyle event. But as she dove from the starting block in the 200-yard event, Thomas lagged behind the other competitors. When Gaines surfaced after completing the race, she would later say she was 'surprised' to see both she and Thomas tied for fifth place when she checked the leaderboard. 'I kind of look at my teammates for reassurance like, 'Did we really just tie?'' she recalled in a YouTube interview several months after the competition, adding that a draw is 'fairly rare' in competitive swimming. But as NCAA officials distributed awards backstage, Gaines said she became frustrated – then angry – when officials asked her to pose for photos holding the sixth-place trophy, while Thomas held the fifth, because they didn't have two prizes for the tie. Her trophy, she said she was told, would come later in the mail. For Gaines, the decision to allow Thomas to hold the prize that day exemplified how trans athletes 'were given a preferential treatment over females.' 'That's when it hit me that no one else is going to speak out about this,' she said. 'I'm not someone who's scared.' At the core of disagreements over transgender access to sports is whether trans women have an unfair physical athletic advantage over athletes assigned female at birth. Research on trans athletes' performance is scarce and no large-scale scientific studies have been conducted on it or on how hormone therapies may affect their performance in specific sports. Even in the 2022 NCAA competition that launched Gaines' anti-trans advocacy, both she and Thomas were bested by four other women – including two-time Olympic medalist Taylor Ruck, who won the 200-yard race – to tie for fifth place. In fact, Gaines is campaigning against a situation that, even by the NCAA's own estimates, is incredibly rare. Last year, NCAA President Charlie Baker told Congress he believed there were fewer than 10 known trans student athletes out of 500,000 who play collegiate sports. Still, Gaines, as well as conservative lawmakers and other anti-trans activists, has used the specter of Thomas and transgender athletes to pursue a nationwide movement to ban them from competing in women's sports. A Pew Research Center study in 2022 found that while societal views on gender identity and discrimination are complex, the majority of people support laws protecting transgender individuals from discrimination. However, 58% of people surveyed also favored policies that require transgender athletes to compete on teams based on the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than based on their gender identity. At first, Gaines insisted she didn't blame Thomas personally for competing – and winning – in a sport that aligned with her gender identity. 'I am in full support of her and full support of her transition and her swimming career and everything like that,' she told the conservative outlet, The Daily Wire, in 2022, 'because there's no doubt that she works hard too, but she's just abiding by the rules that the NCAA put in place, and that's the issue.' But as her platform and prominence grew over the years, Gaines' views appear to have shifted and she began espousing harsher, anti-trans rhetoric both on her podcast, 'Gaines for Girls,' and in appearances with prominent Republican lawmakers – and her work has had a wide-ranging impact. The announcement that the University of Pennsylvania would change its policies to bar future trans athletes came on the same day the eponymous 'Riley Gaines Act' – a Georgia law that also blocks transgender women and girls from competing in women's sports – went into effect. Gaines celebrated in April after Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law, saying it would 'protect' women. In a statement shared by the Lt. Governor's office, Gaines appeared to intentionally misgender Thomas saying she was 'forced to compete against a man' during the 2022 NCAA swimming championship, which was held in Atlanta. 'It's an honor of a lifetime to know our stories help shed light on a grave problem of rampant gender ideology that means women are victims of government facilitated sex discrimination,' Gaines said. Republican Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones praised Gaines and other female athletes for their role in shaping the legislation, saying, 'we couldn't have done it without their courage and support.' The LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD has warned the law could be weaponized against cisgender students accused of being transgender, while also pointing out that it fails to address the real challenges women face in sports, such as inequitable facilities, pay disparities, and sexist harassment. Then, in 2024, Gaines became the named plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NCAA, alleging the sporting body had violated women athletes' Title IX rights by allowing athletes like Thomas to compete. 'Let me be perfectly clear: a school that knowingly allows a male athlete to take a spot on a women's team, or allows a male athlete to take the field in a woman's game, is denying a female student an athletic opportunity. That is sex discrimination,' Gaines said in her testimony before a House subcommittee in 2023. 'Americans know intuitively that this is not fair.' Transgender individuals have stressed – beyond winning awards – there are mental health benefits of being able to play a team sport and compete on a team that aligns with their gender identity. Medical experts say gender is distinct from the biological sex one is assigned at birth. Trans people argue creating laws that say there are only two genders denies and dismisses their lived experiences. Medical experts also note that the higher rates of poor health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and suicidality, among transgender individuals are influenced by multiple factors, with bias and discrimination being significant contributors. Systemic issues such as stigma and attacks on civil rights further intensify these mental health challenges. In February, Trump signed an executive order banning trans women from competing in most women's sports. Before signing the order, Trump praised Gaines, who stood behind him at the podium. After noting how she spent 'countless hours' training to compete for the title, Trump called the draw with Thomas 'stolen glory.' 'It was a very unfair situation … it was ridiculous, frankly, but I want to thank Riley. She really has been in the forefront,' he said. In response to the order, the NCAA updated its policy to restrict participation to athletes assigned female at birth. Gaines celebrated the NCAA's announcement by sharing a photo of the podium ceremony where she tied with Thomas on social media, writing, 'I wish I could've told the girl in this photo what was to come in 2025.' 'It was true then and it's true now,' Gaines wrote, before again misgendering Thomas. 'He's a man.' Trans rights activist Charlotte Clymer said she takes no pleasure in being prescient about the ascendency of the movement to bar trans women from sports. Clymer told CNN she began warning advocates and lawmakers that this day would come years ago, but she was often brushed off, until it was too late. 'I think UPenn was fine with Lia Thomas competing during the years that she was on their swim team, and now that they need some kind of quick solution to save their funding, they decided that offering Lia Thomas as a sacrifice is a valid option,' Clymer said. 'They have decided to leverage her dignity and her legacy as a groundbreaking athlete – and her safety for that matter – to save themselves.' Clymer said she's always advocated for fairness in sports, but the NCAA had rules in place for nearly a decade that balanced fairness, nuance and trans athletes' ability to compete. It's only now, she said, that political winds have shifted to the right, that sporting bodies seem willing to abandon those positions at the expense of the rights of trans students. For her part, Thomas rarely speaks publicly and has instead chosen to fight for her right to play out in the courts. She did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment. Last year, Thomas' hopes of competing in Paris Summer Olympics were dashed when a panel of judges ruled she lacked standing. The Trump administration's Department of Education has made targeting Thomas and trans athletes like her a central part of its efforts to root out diversity, equity and inclusion in schools. Gaines has since capitalized on her opinions by turning them into a career as a conservative commentator. She's the host of a podcast, and the author of an autobiography titled, 'Swimming Against the Current: Fighting for Common Sense in Women's Sports.' In February, Gaines was featured in an ad produced by XX-XY Athletics – a clothing brand that uses its proceeds to 'protect women's sports and spaces' by fighting to stop 'males stealing trophies.' The ad was later shared by vocal anti-trans activist and author J.K. Rowling. 'I love it,' she wrote.
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Riley Gaines has been one of Lia Thomas' most vocal opponents. She just scored two major wins in her anti-trans efforts
People in sports LGBTQ issuesFacebookTweetLink Follow In a few short years, Riley Gaines has channeled a fifth-place tie with Lia Thomas – the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title – into a career as a vocal, conservative activist at the forefront of a movement to bar trans women from competing in sports. Gaines' efforts reached a peak this week, when the University of Pennsylvania acceded to the Trump administration's demands to receive federal funding by erasing all of Thomas' records and prohibiting future trans athletes from playing in female sports. The administration also required the university to issue personal letters of apology to each female swimmer it says were impacted by the school's decision to allow Thomas to compete – including Gaines. She shared her reaction to the news on social media. 'I have been relentless in this pursuit for the past three years, so to say I feel vindicated and again grateful for the leaders holding these people accountable, is an understatement,' Gaines said. 'I will be waiting for my apology from the University of Pennsylvania.' CNN has reached out to Gaines for comment. Gaines has previously said she is campaigning against what she calls 'gender ideology' and she views her work as defending the rights of women and girls to compete fairly in sports. But trans-rights advocates tell CNN her crusade has come at the expense of vilifying an incredibly small minority of students and athletes who may now no longer be able to compete in a team sport and achieve their dreams. And it all began with a disagreement over a trophy. As she made her final strokes in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships, Gaines drew level with Thomas. Just the day before, Thomas, who competed for UPenn, had become the first transgender athlete to win a Division I National Championship – in any sport – during the 500-yard freestyle event. But as she dove from the starting block in the 200-yard event, Thomas lagged behind the other competitors. When Gaines surfaced after completing the race, she would later say she was 'surprised' to see both she and Thomas tied for fifth place when she checked the leaderboard. 'I kind of look at my teammates for reassurance like, 'Did we really just tie?'' she recalled in a YouTube interview several months after the competition, adding that a draw is 'fairly rare' in competitive swimming. But as NCAA officials distributed awards backstage, Gaines said she became frustrated – then angry – when officials asked her to pose for photos holding the sixth-place trophy, while Thomas held the fifth, because they didn't have two prizes for the tie. Her trophy, she said she was told, would come later in the mail. For Gaines, the decision to allow Thomas to hold the prize that day exemplified how trans athletes 'were given a preferential treatment over females.' 'That's when it hit me that no one else is going to speak out about this,' she said. 'I'm not someone who's scared.' At the core of disagreements over transgender access to sports is whether trans women have an unfair physical athletic advantage over athletes assigned female at birth. Research on trans athletes' performance is scarce and no large-scale scientific studies have been conducted on it or on how hormone therapies may affect their performance in specific sports. Even in the 2022 NCAA competition that launched Gaines' anti-trans advocacy, both she and Thomas were bested by four other women – including two-time Olympic medalist Taylor Ruck, who won the 200-yard race – to tie for fifth place. In fact, Gaines is campaigning against a situation that, even by the NCAA's own estimates, is incredibly rare. Last year, NCAA President Charlie Baker told Congress he believed there were fewer than 10 known trans student athletes out of 500,000 who play collegiate sports. Still, Gaines, as well as conservative lawmakers and other anti-trans activists, has used the specter of Thomas and transgender athletes to pursue a nationwide movement to ban them from competing in women's sports. A Pew Research Center study in 2022 found that while societal views on gender identity and discrimination are complex, the majority of people support laws protecting transgender individuals from discrimination. However, 58% of people surveyed also favored policies that require transgender athletes to compete on teams based on the sex they were assigned at birth, rather than based on their gender identity. At first, Gaines insisted she didn't blame Thomas personally for competing – and winning – in a sport that aligned with her gender identity. 'I am in full support of her and full support of her transition and her swimming career and everything like that,' she told the conservative outlet, The Daily Wire, in 2022, 'because there's no doubt that she works hard too, but she's just abiding by the rules that the NCAA put in place, and that's the issue.' But as her platform and prominence grew over the years, Gaines' views appear to have shifted and she began espousing harsher, anti-trans rhetoric both on her podcast, 'Gaines for Girls,' and in appearances with prominent Republican lawmakers – and her work has had a wide-ranging impact. The announcement that the University of Pennsylvania would change its policies to bar future trans athletes came on the same day the eponymous 'Riley Gaines Act' – a Georgia law that also blocks transgender women and girls from competing in women's sports – went into effect. Gaines celebrated in April after Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the bill into law, saying it would 'protect' women. In a statement shared by the Lt. Governor's office, Gaines appeared to intentionally misgender Thomas saying she was 'forced to compete against a man' during the 2022 NCAA swimming championship, which was held in Atlanta. 'It's an honor of a lifetime to know our stories help shed light on a grave problem of rampant gender ideology that means women are victims of government facilitated sex discrimination,' Gaines said. Republican Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones praised Gaines and other female athletes for their role in shaping the legislation, saying, 'we couldn't have done it without their courage and support.' The LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD has warned the law could be weaponized against cisgender students accused of being transgender, while also pointing out that it fails to address the real challenges women face in sports, such as inequitable facilities, pay disparities, and sexist harassment. Then, in 2024, Gaines became the named plaintiff in a lawsuit against the NCAA, alleging the sporting body had violated women athletes' Title IX rights by allowing athletes like Thomas to compete. 'Let me be perfectly clear: a school that knowingly allows a male athlete to take a spot on a women's team, or allows a male athlete to take the field in a woman's game, is denying a female student an athletic opportunity. That is sex discrimination,' Gaines said in her testimony before a House subcommittee in 2023. 'Americans know intuitively that this is not fair.' Transgender individuals have stressed – beyond winning awards – there are mental health benefits of being able to play a team sport and compete on a team that aligns with their gender identity. Medical experts say gender is distinct from the biological sex one is assigned at birth. Trans people argue creating laws that say there are only two genders denies and dismisses their lived experiences. Medical experts also note that the higher rates of poor health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, and suicidality, among transgender individuals are influenced by multiple factors, with bias and discrimination being significant contributors. Systemic issues such as stigma and attacks on civil rights further intensify these mental health challenges. In February, Trump signed an executive order banning trans women from competing in most women's sports. Before signing the order, Trump praised Gaines, who stood behind him at the podium. After noting how she spent 'countless hours' training to compete for the title, Trump called the draw with Thomas 'stolen glory.' 'It was a very unfair situation … it was ridiculous, frankly, but I want to thank Riley. She really has been in the forefront,' he said. In response to the order, the NCAA updated its policy to restrict participation to athletes assigned female at birth. Gaines celebrated the NCAA's announcement by sharing a photo of the podium ceremony where she tied with Thomas on social media, writing, 'I wish I could've told the girl in this photo what was to come in 2025.' 'It was true then and it's true now,' Gaines wrote, before again misgendering Thomas. 'He's a man.' Trans rights activist Charlotte Clymer said she takes no pleasure in being prescient about the ascendency of the movement to bar trans women from sports. Clymer told CNN she began warning advocates and lawmakers that this day would come years ago, but she was often brushed off, until it was too late. 'I think UPenn was fine with Lia Thomas competing during the years that she was on their swim team, and now that they need some kind of quick solution to save their funding, they decided that offering Lia Thomas as a sacrifice is a valid option,' Clymer said. 'They have decided to leverage her dignity and her legacy as a groundbreaking athlete – and her safety for that matter – to save themselves.' Clymer said she's always advocated for fairness in sports, but the NCAA had rules in place for nearly a decade that balanced fairness, nuance and trans athletes' ability to compete. It's only now, she said, that political winds have shifted to the right, that sporting bodies seem willing to abandon those positions at the expense of the rights of trans students. For her part, Thomas rarely speaks publicly and has instead chosen to fight for her right to play out in the courts. She did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment. Last year, Thomas' hopes of competing in Paris Summer Olympics were dashed when a panel of judges ruled she lacked standing. The Trump administration's Department of Education has made targeting Thomas and trans athletes like her a central part of its efforts to root out diversity, equity and inclusion in schools. Gaines has since capitalized on her opinions by turning them into a career as a conservative commentator. She's the host of a podcast, and the author of an autobiography titled, 'Swimming Against the Current: Fighting for Common Sense in Women's Sports.' In February, Gaines was featured in an ad produced by XX-XY Athletics – a clothing brand that uses its proceeds to 'protect women's sports and spaces' by fighting to stop 'males stealing trophies.' The ad was later shared by vocal anti-trans activist and author J.K. Rowling. 'I love it,' she wrote.
