Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas Announces She Plans To “Keep Fighting” Against Donald Trump
Lia Thomas is a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who drew harsh criticism for her success as the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I championship in 2022.
Riley Gaines, a decorated former NCAA swimmer for the University of Kentucky, famously had to compete against the trans swimmer.
Last month, Gaines praised the Trump administration after it was announced that $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania had been paused over the university’s inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
The month prior, Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
Trump declared that “the war on women’s sports is over.”
Lia (Will) Thomas: “I was just another college woman competing.” The audacity…
— Kaitlynn Wheeler (@WheelerKaitlynn) April 3, 2025
Now he’s ‘devastated’ over being banned from women’s sports? Imagine being a female athlete who lost championships, scholarships, and opportunities to a male… oh wait, you can’t because you were the… pic.twitter.com/dB2CW3rU6Q
The controversial athlete has now broken her silence on the president’s executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, insisting she will continue to ‘fight’ for inclusion.
Lia Thomas, who is biologically male, said, “I am going to keep fighting as much as I am able to,” Thomas declared during a Zoom call at the HiTOPS trans youth forum, as reported by Outkick.
“In order to fight the battles we need to fight, we have to stick together and support each other.”
Thomas does not believe Trump or his political counterparts should have the final say on trans athletes.
“It has to be the athletes deciding for themselves where they feel most affirmed and most comfortable,” she added. “Having routes that are safe and non-discriminatory, that allow them access to that.”
Lia Thomas Lost Bid To Compete At The Olympics
Lia Thomas had much success in college competing against women, but she has experienced several losses since graduating.
The transgender swimmer lost a legal battle last year challenging an effective ban on trans women competing in the highest levels of women’s swimming, which dashed her hopes of making the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Three judges on the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Thomas’ request for arbitration with the World Aquatics governing body.
“The panel concludes that she lacks standing to challenge the policy and the operational requirements in the framework of the present proceeding,” the court said.
With that ruling, Thomas was unable to participate in the qualifying trials to compete in the Olympics.
Also Read: Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas Eliminated From NCAA Woman Of The Year Award Contention
Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas Announces She Plans To “Keep Fighting” Against Donald Trump
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