Gerrard Kaonga
The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to strip Lia Thomas of their swimming records following intense pressure from Donald Trump and his government.
Lia Thomas was the first transgender winner of an American collegiate title, who last competed for the University of Pennsylvania back in 2022, sparking backlash from some at the time.
More recently the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found the university violated Title IX by ‘allowing a male to compete in female athletic programs and occupy female-only intimate facilities’.
As part of their agreement to strip Thomas of their accolades, they have also agreed to send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers who lost out to Thomas, according to the education department.
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The university also agreed to restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who had lost out.
The education secretary and WWE star, Linda McMahon, commended the university for the move.
She commented: “The department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law.”
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender girls and women from participating in female sports events in schools and colleges in the US.
However, the order would only cover federally funded sports. Ahead of signing the order he said: “From now on women’s sports will be only for women. We’ve gotten the woke lunacy out of our military and now we’re getting it out of women’s sports.”
He also spoke about the upcoming 2028 Olympics, set to be held in Los Angeles.
Trump made it clear he would be taking actions to deny the visas of transgender athletes wanting to compete in the games.
He said: “In Los Angeles in 2028, my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes. We’re not going to let it happen.
“Just to make sure, I’m also directing our secretary of homeland security to deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the US while identifying as women athletes to try and get into the Games.”