Lia Thomas, the first openly transgender swimmer to win the NCAA, speaks out | Nightline

After Lia Thomas won the 2022 NCAA Division I championship in Women’s 500-yard freestyle, she ignited a national debate about fairness in Women’s sports, transgender rights and identity.

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[danmcdaniel]

What an absolute slap in the face to every female athlete absolutely ridiculous.

[madgemackles]

You can’t tell me that people don’t see how wrong and unfair this is for biological females. If I was on of those girls, I think I’d quit.

[isao]

"It's not a threat to women's sports." Tell that to an accomplished high school athlete who just lost a college scholarship.

[vivianezogg]

This is not about Lia Thomas having a right to be female. This is about the right of biological females to a fair competition.

[larryhouse]

I don't care about him/her. Good for whatever choice you've made. But that's you. This is 1 step forward for you, 100 years of steps backwards for women's rights. Go swim if you enjoy it, stop casting a shadow over every other biological woman who has trained hard for their entire life. This is literally a slap in the face to women's rights. I am genuinely embarrassed by this gross display of an abuse of the system. Whatever is going on in your mind to make you feel like a woman is not related at all to the male body you most surely have. If it truly is all about the love of the sport for you, then compete with people at your level, other men.

[hiddenname]

Thomas took away a girl's spot in every competition he was in. He has no shame. A selfish being who steals other people's opportunity.

[omggiiirl]

Why can't there be a transgender category for sports? It's not transphobic to call a thing a thing. Mind you I'm trans. You can be as unlockable as you like but the truth is truth, we're different and that's okay. Some things yes we can occupy the same spaces as natural born women. But there's times where it's not fair or right to intrude. We should understand how hard it is for them as trans women and respect it.

[bhvpbvy]

He must be incredibly proud of himself. At the end of his life he will be able to say "I beat lots of women in swimming and took the chance to have fair competitions, for which they worked hard for years and years, away from them."

What an incredibly selfish human being.

[aaronjasek]

Dude walked into a women's lockroom and exposed himself. That's a felony!

[hautechocolaate]

I feel really bad for the female competitors who've worked so hard but cant really compete w/a biological male. I have no hate for trans people but this is a question of fairness. Period.

[ConvictedFelon]

I'm with Richard Dawkins on this one. When it comes to athletics (as opposed to something mental, like academics), your biology (sex) is what matters, not your psychology (gender). She should have either competed in the men's team or in a separate league for trans and nonbinary athletes.

[somewhereupthere]

I truely believe that every person has the right to be happy no matter how that looks. But you can't tell me that Lia DOESN'T see the size and power advantage she has from transitioning well beyond puberty.

[nonsense]

Don't care whatever anyone says, that's a straight up dude in a onesie

[sulls]

Saw this comment at another outlet and it 100% expresses how I feel about the Lia Thomas controversy: 'How is is fair for biological woman to swim against a biological man who has longer arm reach, wider shoulders, larger lung capacity, bigger heart chambers, larger vascular system, longer legs, more muscle density and narrower hips?'

[shahrukhpathan]

I feel sad for all those women who were in competition 😢

[Clipper_Damez]

I don't want to hear from him, I want to hear from all the women whose lives he wasted

[tatianahernandez]

Let’s all be very deadass rn, the issue is not that Leah is transgender. The issue is that she has biological advantages that are the literal reason why sports are already separated by gender. I don’t support hating her but I also don’t think it’s fair for the other girls.

[smkh]

He can't win against actual men, so....

[berjaboy]

I don't care how many drugs or hormones Lia Thomas as taken, she will always have an advantage. Do these hormones shrink her hands or feet? Both huge advantages in swimming. Did these drugs make her cardiovascular or respiratory systems smaller? What's worse is that Thomas knows this and still accepts all the accolades and awards with a big smile on it's face.

[thomasdahl]

It isn't anti-trans to feel that transwomen against CIS women is unfair. Quite a few transwomen agree with this.