Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, was permitted to compete at the NCAA Women’s Championships last week where he dominated his competition.
Thomas took first place in the 500 free event and the Thursday morning qualifier, beating the second-place competitor by nearly 3 seconds, a larger gap than the time difference between the second and eleventh place finishers.
While competing on a men’s team for three years, Thomas was ranked No. 462 nationally. Now that he is competing among women, he is ranked No. 1.
It’s abundantly clear that Thomas is cheating, and men do not belong in women’s sports. His gender identity is irrelevant to the question of whether or not it is fair for him to compete against women. The only thing that matters is his biology.
We know that men possess innate physical advantages over women. Ross Tucker of the Science of Sport podcast explains that “[m]ale bodies have 10-30 percent greater muscle strength, greater bone density, better oxygen efficiency, larger heart and lungs, more efficient pelvic Q-angle and elbow angles, as well as 10 percent more overall body mass.”
USA Swimming released new rules for transgender swimmers that require men to show testosterone levels within a certain range in order to compete against women. However, this is not enough to level the playing field. The advantage that men hold cannot be reversed.
The woke athletic culture is making decisions based on ideology rather than reality. The reality is that Thomas boasts an advantage even greater than if an athlete were using performance enhancing drugs that would disqualify him/her from participating.
He is stealing titles and opportunities from deserving women who have worked tirelessly to be the best in their sport. He has also broken several records, meaning the women who held them previously no longer do.
“I’ve got a teammate who did not make the final today because she was just bumped out of finals,” said one swimmer. “It’s heartbreaking to see someone who went through puberty as a male and has the body of a male be able to absolutely blow away the competition.”
Women’s sports exist purely to create a level playing field for women because men have an undeniable, innate physical advantage. If biological men are allowed to compete against women, women’s sports are pointless. Unless we stop this gender ideology madness, women’s sports will soon be eradicated.
The Wisconsin State legislature tried to mitigate this issue through legislation, but two necessary bills failed to pass this session. Senate Bill 323 and its Assembly companion, Assembly Bill 195, would have prohibited all US System schools and all technical colleges from allowing biological males to compete on or in women’s athletic teams or competitions. Similarly, Senate Bill 322 and Assembly Bill 196 would have prohibited public schools, independent charter schools and private schools participating in the voucher program from allowing biological males to compete on or in girls’ athletic teams or competitions.
All of these bills passed in the assigned committees, but leadership in both the Assembly and the Senate never brought them to the floor for votes. Typically, that means that the majority party, which is the Republicans in both the Assembly and the Senate, did not have the votes from their own party to ensure passage. We also know had these bills made it to the governor’s desk, Tony Evers would have immediately vetoed any and all of them.
These bills need to be brought back in the new session that will begin in January 2023. But between now and then, Wisconsin citizens need to remember that elections have consequences. If we want to keep boys and men out of girls’ and women’s sports, then we need, at a minimum, a governor who will sign the bills.
