Concerned Women for America on Thursday filed a federal civil rights complaint against the University of Pennsylvania for allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on the school’s women’s swim team.
The conservative, evangelical Christian group accuses the university of “refusing to protect the rights of college female athletes” under Title IX in a complaint filed with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
“Thomas is anatomically and biologically a male with physical capacities that are different from anatomically and biologically female athletes, which extends an unfair advantage and strips female student-athletes of opportunities afforded to them by law,” CWA said in a press release.
CWA alleges that allowing Thomas to compete in the Ivy League and NCAA is a “direct violation” of Title IX, a measure that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education.
The complaint comes on the first day of the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Thomas finished first in the preliminary 500-year freestyle event at the finals on Thursday.
Thomas has ruffled feathers this season as the swimmer set pool, school, and Ivy League records. Thomas competed for three years on the men’s team and was ranked 462 as a male swimmer, but shot up to number one after being allowed to join the women’s team this season.
Critics have pointed out that Thomas has an unfair biological advantage from years of competing as a man.
“The future of women’s sports is at risk and the equal rights of female athletes are being infringed,” said Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America. “We filed a formal civil rights complaint against UPenn in response to this injustice.”
“Any school that defies federal civil rights law by denying women equal opportunities in athletic programs, forcing women to compete against athletes who are biologically male must be held accountable,” Nance said in a statement.
The complaint notes that media reports indicate that Thomas’s teammates “have complained about UPenn allowing a hostile environment to fester in its locker room which has put them in apprehension.”
Of 37 swimmers on the team, sources told Sports Illustrated earlier this month that six to eight of the swimmers are adamant supporters of Thomas while half the team opposes Thomas competing against women and the rest have disengaged from the debate.
One Penn parent told Sports Illustrated that while “Lia is a human being who deserves to be treated with respect and dignity,” that it is “not transphobic to say I disagree with where she’s swimming.”
The report says Penn swim parents sent a December 5 letter to the NCAA asking Thomas be ruled ineligible for women’s competitions.
“At stake here is the integrity of women’s sports,” the parents wrote in the letter to Penn and the Ivy League. “The precedent being set—one in which women do not have a protected and equitable space to compete—is a direct threat to female athletes in every sport. What are the boundaries? How is this in line with the NCAA’s commitment to providing a fair environment for student-athletes?”
While the parents received no response from the NCAA, Penn athletic director Alanna Shanahan sent a message to the team saying the school fully supports all of its swimming student-athletes and wants to “help our community navigate Lia’s success in the pool this winter.” Shanahan suggested that upset swimmers should “utilize robust resources available to them,” including the university’s department of Counseling and Psychological Services.
Thomas addressed the controversy in an interview with Sports Illustrated saying, “I’m a woman, just like anybody else on the team.”
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