Trans athlete Lia Thomas launches furious attack on Donald Trump's bid to keep men out of women's sports

Trans athlete Lia Thomas has angrily hit out at critics of biological males competing in women's sports in some her first comments on the issue since Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Trump campaigned hard on 'keeping men out of women's sports' and after winning the election last year, promptly signed an exectutive order to ban trans athletes competing against women.

Thomas competed for the University of Pennsylvania women's team in 2021-22 and won a national championship after previously being on the men's team.

Her participation was a significant moment in the debate around transgender athletes, with female competitors sympathizing with Thomas but unhappy at sharing a locker room with her and questioning how fair it was to be racing her. In turn, it made Thomas one of the athletes most closely associated with the heated debate on both sides.

Now, speaking on WHYY, Thomas didn't refer to Trump by name but hit out at those who support his efforts to stop trans athletes being involved in sporting competition. 

'You don't get to pick and choose when you see me as a woman,' Thomas said. 'You don't get to say, "You can be a woman in these situations, but not in these" because you would never do that to a cis woman. 

'But for trans women, a lot of people think ‘Oh, it’s okay for me to be the arbiter and pick and choose when I see them as women."'

Thomas also disputed the widely-supported scientific claims that trans women have a biolgocial advantage to women who are born female due to going through male puberty.

'There are massive losses to muscle mass, strength and endurance, and to make blanket statements like, ‘Oh, I see you as a woman, but you just shouldn’t compete in women's sports' is both transphobic and not reflective of the realities of being trans and being on HRT (hormone-replacement therapy),' Thomas said.

The University of Pennsylvania, where Thomas participated, has since agreed with the Trump administration not to allow trans athletes to compete, as well as stripping Thomas of past titles.

Thomas also spoke about her realtionship with a woman at the time she decided to undergo gender-affirming surgery.  

'I and my girlfriend at the time, were staying on campus to do a summer class,' Thomas explained. 'She was and has continued to be a very staunch queer ally. 

'And she invited me to go with her to a pride parade as like allies to be supporting. And as a closeted trans women, I was like "Yes, absolutely I would love to go hang out with cool, queer people,". 

'That evening when we got home, I came out to her. And I think that might have been the first time I said 'I’m trans' out loud. 

'And that was a very huge milestone, and she was incredibly supportive.'