{"id":1357005,"date":"2022-03-03T14:07:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T19:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1357005"},"modified":"2022-03-03T14:07:55","modified_gmt":"2022-03-03T19:07:55","slug":"i-belong-on-the-womens-team-si-presents-lia-thomas-as-embattled-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-belong-on-the-womens-team-si-presents-lia-thomas-as-embattled-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"&#039;I Belong on the Women&#039;s Team&#039;: SI Presents Lia Thomas as Embattled Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fi-belong-on-the-womens-team-si-presents-lia-thomas-as-embattled-hero%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1357005&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">On Thursday, <i>Sports Illustrated<\/i> published a long retrospective of the highly controversial University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas portraying the swimmer as an embattled hero who insists, \u201cI am here to swim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In its long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/2022\/03\/03\/lia-thomas-penn-swimmer-transgender-woman-daily-cover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article<\/a>, the magazine correctly notes that Thomas is \u201ccontroversial\u201d for obliterating a dozen swimming records set by natural-born female swimmers. Born male, Thomas has undergone hormone replacement therapy (HRT) but has not engaged in any surgical measures to \u201ctransition.\u201d And Thomas swam on the men\u2019s team for several years at the university before announcing a change of gender.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p><i>SI<\/i> soft sells Thomas\u2019 career as a male swimmer by saying he had \u201ccome close to hitting NCAA championship\u2013qualifying times in men\u2019s distance races.\u201d Still, the article never dwells on the fact that, on the men\u2019s team,\u00a0 Thomas\u2019 career was far less remarkable than what he achieved on the women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<p>The magazine takes pains to impress on the reader that Thomas feels less powerful as a \u201cwoman\u201d and that his stamina and strength are diminished with the HRT treatments. However, the magazine also lists more than half a dozen records set by women that Thomas has shattered. Clearly, the lost strength and speed Thomas suffered from HRT still leaves him with far more power and speed than opponents.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.gettyimages.com\/photos\/university-of-pennsylvania-swimmer-lia-thomas-poses-on-the-podium-picture-id1238633855?k=20&#038;m=1238633855&#038;s=612x612&#038;w=0&#038;h=isgELHYv3lsQMwJ10vee3urNXIlm_SzZMoI7lFcA1Mw=\" alt=\"University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas poses on the podium after winning the 100 yard freestyle, Yale University swimmer Iszac Henig finished...\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><em>CAMBRIDGE, MA \u2013 FEBRUARY 19: University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas (C) poses on the podium after winning the 100-yard freestyle. (Photo by Kathryn Riley\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p><i>SI<\/i> described Thomas as, \u201cThe shy senior economics major from Austin became one of the most dominant college athletes in the country and, as a result, the center of a national debate\u2014a living, breathing, real-time Rorschach test for how society views those who challenge conventions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But if reports that Thomas has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2021\/12\/13\/so-easy-i-was-cruising-trans-upenn-swimmer-bragged-about-beating-female-opponents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bragged<\/a> about how much faster he is than his female opponents are true, \u201cshy\u201d does not seem accurate.<\/p>\n<p>The magazine portrays Thomas as a hero standing up for \u201ctransgender kids throughout the piece.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The article quoted Thomas saying, \u201cI just want to show trans kids and younger trans athletes that they\u2019re not alone. They don\u2019t have to choose between who they are and the sport they love.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The women finish third at the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IvyLeague?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IvyLeague<\/a> Championships! Our highest finish in program history!<\/p>\n<p>\u1f4f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/m3RxAap3RB\">https:\/\/t.co\/m3RxAap3RB<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FightOnPenn?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FightOnPenn<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HFSYQTehJ8\">pic.twitter.com\/HFSYQTehJ8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Penn Swimming &#038; Diving (@PennSwimDive) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PennSwimDive\/status\/1495216788333862922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 20, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The article also ridicules parents of other UPenn swimmers who support Thomas\u2019s desires to \u201ctransition\u201d but feel his participation on the women\u2019s swim team is unfair to natural-born female athletes.<\/p>\n<p>After recounting the argument against the hulking swimmer who is physically larger than the rest of the UPenn female swimmers, <i>SI<\/i> goes on to add:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s mean,\u201d one Penn parent who identifies as a progressive but opposes Thomas\u2019s eligibility says of the online and media bigotry directed at her. \u201cLia is a human being who deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. But it\u2019s not transphobic to say I disagree with where she\u2019s swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That argument is disingenuous to Thomas. There is no such thing as half-support: Either you back her fully as a woman or you don\u2019t. \u201cThe very simple answer is that I\u2019m not a man,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m a woman, so I belong on the women\u2019s team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Thomas told the magazine that the future is unclear, but swimming on Team USA for the 2024 Olympics is possible. Unsurprisingly, USA Swimming officials told the magazine to welcome Thomas with open arms.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas will finish the season as the most controversial swimmer in college women\u2019s sports. Many teammates oppose Thomas\u2019 inclusion on the team. But there are also notable people outside the school who oppose Thomas\u2019 record-breaking season.<\/p>\n<p>Notable opponents of the swimmer include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/teammates-of-transgender-swimmer-seek-bar-from-womens-competition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nancy Hogshead-Makar<\/a>, an Olympic gold medalist who heads Champion Women, Olympic swimmer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/18\/michael-phelps-on-trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-it-has-level-playing-field\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Phelps<\/a>, and Rice head swimming coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2022\/01\/25\/rice-swimming-coach-slams-ncaa-for-allowing-trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-to-compete-as-a-woman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Seth Huston<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><i>Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Warner.Todd.Huston\">facebook.com\/Warner.Todd.Huston<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Thursday, Sports Illustrated published a long retrospective of the highly controversial University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas portraying the swimmer as an embattled hero who insists, \u201cI am<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1357005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1357005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1357005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1357005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1357005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}