Univ of Pennsylvania agrees to strip Lia Thomas of titles

[HelleneS]

Under an agreement reached on 1 June with the U.S. Dept of Education (DOE), the Univ of Pennsylvania has agreed to rescind swimmer Lia Thomas's wins and records, to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in women's athletics, and to restore the records and titles previously set by female U Penn swimmers.

U Penn has also agreed to issue personal letters of apology to all women athletes who were affected by Thomas's year-long participation on the women's swimming team.

The agreement will settle a DOE investigation into U Penn's violation of U.S. law against sex discrimination in education.

Yes!

Oh my word. Really? That’s amazing.

Here's a story from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution out of Georgia.

Oh, sorry, paywalled. I think the story has also hit in the UK, tho.

I didn’t think anything could make me feel slightly sorry for Lia Thomas, but that does.

i can’t get over the absolute stupidity of the academic authorities who allowed this situation to arise and are going to end up publicly humiliating Lia, having allowed the female athletes to be publicly disrespected by Lias participation in the first place. Idiots.

Fantastic news!

About time. I don’t feel sorry for Lia at all. From what I understand (and open to correction) Lia appears to have cynically transitioned purely to win at women’s swimming.

I don't feel sorry for him either. You reap what you sow.

I once had a look at Lia's Instagram.

Needed brain bleach after but I don't think Lia just wanted to win at swimming.

There was the familiar story of too much time looking at anime and porn on the Internet.

It was a Dr Upton vibe, Lia really believes.

I don’t feel sorry for this man who cheated his way to medals he didn’t deserve. Just because the organisers went along with it didn’t mean that he was innocent in all this.

I’ll save my sympathy for the women who lost out because of him, who were called bigoted and mean for not going along with his lies.

This is a day I never thought would happen. Am so thrilled for all the women affected!

Happy Days!!

I can't feel sorry for a man who repeatedly committed indecent exposure and voyeurism and used the university to threaten his victims into silence thereby allowing his criminal behaviour to continue.
William/lia Tomas should be in jail and on the sex offenders register for life along with the coaches and university staff behind the policy that allowed Tomas to commit his crimes as co-conspirators and facilitators

U Penn has also agreed to issue personal letters of apology to all women athletes who were affected by Thomas's year-long participation on the women's swimming team.

That could be quite a long list, as it would need to include those who didn't make the cutoff for selection because Thomas had a space.

Sorry to add a note of FFS to this good news story, but the BBC is saying

"Competing on the women's swim team in 2022, Thomas shattered school swim records, posting the fastest times of any female swimmer."

The whole story is about how he isn't female, and yet they say this. Here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy4yy4dv2dyo
Actually they don't say straight up that he biologically male either. They say he used to swim for the male team and then started HRT. But nothing about the small matter of male puberty conferring advantage and a real focus on poor Lia. Fuck off BBC.

But also, yes - very good news for female athletes.

Blatant lies and misrepresentation of the scientific consensus from CNN:

"Some critics claim transgender athletes have an unfair advantage in sports, but that’s not what the research shows.

While research is limited and ongoing, a 2017 review in the peer-reviewed journal Sports Medicine found “no direct or consistent research” showing trans people have an athletic advantage.

A more recent October 2023 review of the research concluded that sex differences do develop following puberty, but many are “reduced, if not erased, over time by gender affirming hormone therapy.”

Physical attributes that could work in a trans girl’s favor, like height or limb length, for example, appear to be “less malleable,” the study said, but it also pointed out that there are no efforts to restrict cisgender athletes who are taller than average or exceptionally gifted physically in any other way".

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/07/01/us/upenn-transgender-women-sports-lia-thomas

Blimey. Well this is excellent news and will hopefully make other institutions think twice before indulging role playing men

Lia Thomas heaped humiliation on the female swimmers who just needed privacy and fairness. He's now reaping what he sewed.

Delighted with this.

And not a single cell in my body feels sorry for the predatory male that is Thomas.

"My teammates and I were forced to undress in the presence of Lia, a 6-foot-4 tall biological male, fully intact with male genitalia, 18 times per week," said Scanlan.

"Some girls opted to change in bathroom stalls, and others used the family bathroom to avoid this. When we tried to voice our concerns to the athletic department, we were told that Lia's swimming and being in our locker room was a non-negotiable, and we were offered psychological services to attempt to re-educate us to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male.

"To sum up the university's response, we the women were the problem, not the victims. We were expected to conform, to move over and shut up. Our feelings didn't matter."

https://www.marca.com/en/more-sports/2023/07/28/64c3f05fca474194058b45cc.html

Just repeating this bit to focus on the pure insanity of the situation

we were offered psychological services to attempt to re-educate us to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male.

we were offered psychological services to attempt to re-educate us to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male.

we were offered psychological services to attempt to re-educate us to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male.

Orwellian lunacy

I can’t feel sorry for him either.
Even if we were to assume no ill intent it would have been obvious to him he was making female swimmers feel violated and no decent person would do that.

(I hate the BBC)
"Competing on the women's swim team in 2022, Thomas shattered school swim records, posting the fastest times of any female swimmer."

Proof if proof were needed that men have a biological advantage over women.
I'm glad they're going to be re-setting the records as well, the fastest time for a women's race (of any type) should be achieved by a women, not a man.

Excellent news. Wonder whether anyone in the Uni will be held to account for this travesty?

Our side is winning.

It is depressing the child experiments, and putting rapists into women's prisons were MORE acceptable than sports stuff. Yet, brining the whole lot down is what matters.

Will had his moments of glory, which he stole from the girls who really competed in a female race with other females. He also seemed to enjoy the locker room experience, if his intact genitalia were anything to go by.

I would save my sympathy for the girls from whom he stole their rightful rewards (and discomfort per).