From LifeSiteNews.com…
A swimmer on the University of Pennsylvania’s (Penn) women’s swim team said that swimmers were threatened with being outed as “transphobic” if they complained about gender-confused athlete William “Lia” Thomas’ presence on the team, according to a new documentary put out by the Daily Wire.
The swimmer, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told Daily Wirecommentator Matt Walsh about Penn’s attitude regarding having Thomas on the women’s teamin an interview for Walsh’s new documentary What is a Woman?
GMA interviewed Lia Thomas today. Great timing. Our film features one of Thomas’s teammates. She told me that women on her team were silenced and referred to psychological counseling if they objected to having Thomas on the team. More in the full film: https://t.co/xibkNa4oHW pic.twitter.com/YRRf2S712a
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 31, 2022
“There were a lot of things we couldn’t talk about that was concerning,” the swimmer told Walsh. Discussing some of the concerns that some of the swimmers had about Thomas, the anonymous swimmer maintained that concerns about Thomas’ presence in the locker room were not brought up due to fear of being called “transphobic.”
“If you even brought up concerns about [his presence in the locker room], you were ‘transphobic,’” said the anonymous swimmer to Walsh.
The swimmer also said that some swimmers were concerned about fairness at swim meets. “Lia’s performance helps the University of Pennsylvania swim team,” the swimmer said. “Lia obviously helps us do better [but] the feeling of winning doesn’t feel as good anymore because it feels tainted.”
“If you ever bring up the fact that Lia’s swimming might not be fair, you’re immediately shut down and called a hateful person or transphobic,” the swimmer told Walsh.
When asked by Walsh if Penn knew that swimmers were upset by Thomas’ presence on the team, the swimmer said that Penn brought in someone from the school’s “LGBTQ center” and someone from psychological services to speak to the team about Thomas.
“Penn actually brought in people high up in the athletic department to talk to us, brought in someone from the LGBTQ center, they brought in someone from psychological services.” Walsh, interjecting, asked “So, you’re upset, and you need some support about what’s happening, so you need psychological help?” The swimmer told Walsh that in the meeting with the people that Penn brought in, the school declared that Thomas’ presence on the team was “non-negotiable.”
“They’ve made it pretty clear, if you speak up about it, your life will be over in some way, you’ll be blasted all over the internet as a ‘transphobe’ … you’ll never be able to get a job.”
