{"id":1358705,"date":"2022-03-04T13:37:48","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T18:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1358705"},"modified":"2022-03-04T13:38:08","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T18:38:08","slug":"im-a-woman-lia-thomas-doubles-down-hints-at-2024-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-a-woman-lia-thomas-doubles-down-hints-at-2024-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m A Woman\u2019: Lia Thomas Doubles Down, Hints At 2024 Olympics"},"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\">22<\/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%2Fim-a-woman-lia-thomas-doubles-down-hints-at-2024-olympics%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=1358705&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>Transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas doubled down in an interview Thursday regarding gender identity and even hinted at possibly swimming in the 2024 Olympics, according to a new interview with Sports Illustrated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a woman, just like anybody else on the team,\u201d Thomas told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/2022\/03\/03\/lia-thomas-penn-swimmer-transgender-woman-daily-cover\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outlet<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve always viewed myself as just a swimmer. It\u2019s what I\u2019ve done for so long; it\u2019s what I love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI get into the water every day and do my best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas, who competed on the men\u2019s team for three years before transitioning, expressed desire to be a model for trans youth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want to show trans kids and younger trans athletes that they\u2019re not alone,\u201d Thomas told Sports Illustrated. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to choose between who they are and the sport they love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly what the future of my swimming will look like after this year, but I would love to continue doing it. I want to swim and compete as who I am,\u201d Thomas added.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7385471\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7385471\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7385471\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238633855.jpg\" alt=\"CAMBRIDGE, MA - FEBRUARY 19: University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas (C) poses on the podium after winning the 100 yard freestyle, Yale University swimmer Iszac Henig finished (L) second, and Princeton University swimmer Nikki Venema (R) finished third during the 2022 Ivy League Womens Swimming and Diving Championships at Blodgett Pool on February 19, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kathryn Riley\/Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238633855.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238633855-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238633855-620x414-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238633855-768x513-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238633855-1536x1026-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1238633855-2048x1368-1.jpg 2048w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7385471\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">CAMBRIDGE, MA \u2013 FEBRUARY 19: University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas (C) poses on the podium after winning the 100 yard freestyle, Yale University swimmer Iszac Henig finished (L) second, and Princeton University swimmer Nikki Venema (R) finished third during the 2022 Ivy League Womens Swimming and Diving Championships at Blodgett Pool on February 19, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Kathryn Riley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Support for Thomas\u2019 place on the team is divided, with some teammates claiming Thomas has an unfair advantage. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/03\/01\/abuse-censorship-twitter-suspends-republican-vicky-hartzler-tweet-transgender\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: \u2018Abuse Of Censorship\u2019: Twitter Suspends Republican Candidate For Tweet About Men \u2018Pretending To Be Women\u2019)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In an unsigned February letter, 16 of the 37 women\u2019s team members argued Thomas had an unfair advantage and should not be allowed to compete on the women\u2019s team. The women did not sign the letter out of fear of retaliation after team leadership reportedly threatened to remove them from the team for speaking to the press.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBiologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the women\u2019s category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female,\u201d the letter said, as first reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/sports\/2022\/02\/03\/lia-thomas-penn-swimming-teammates\/?utm_source=twitter&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_campaign=wp_main\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Washington Pos<\/a>t. \u201cIf she were to be eligible to compete against us, she could now break Penn, Ivy and NCAA Women\u2019s Swimming records; feats she could never have done as a male athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of Thomas\u2019 teammates <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/01\/27\/women-uncomfortable-sharing-locker-room-trans-swimmer-male-body-parts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told<\/a> the Daily Mail she and her female teammates were uncomfortable sharing a locker room with Thomas, who she said still had \u201cmale body parts and is still attracted to women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others spoke to Sports Illustrated anonymously out of fear of being \u201clabeled as transphobic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Parents have even become involved in the debate, with one parent of a Penn swimmer telling the outlet \u201cwe support Lia as a trans woman and hope she leads a happy and productive life, because that\u2019s what she deserves. What we can\u2019t do is stand by while she rewrites records and eliminates biological women from this sport. If we don\u2019t speak up here, it\u2019s going to happen in college after college. And then women\u2019s sports, as we know it, will no longer exist in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/02\/04\/caitlyn-jenner-trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-shouldnt-be-able-to-compete\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thomas<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/02\/18\/lia-thomas-transgender-swimmer-university-of-pennsylvania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">won<\/a> an Ivy League Championship in the women\u2019s 500-yard freestyle event in February, beating most of the other competitors by about one lap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas doubled down in an interview Thursday regarding gender identity and even hinted at possibly swimming in the 2024 Olympics, according to a new<\/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-1358705","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\/1358705","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=1358705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358705\/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=1358705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1358705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1358705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}