Recently, the NCAA swimming competition took place, and Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win the competition. She finished the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:33.24 seconds.
There have been many controversial opinions surrounding Thomas, claiming that she transitioned just to win sports competitions.
In reality, Thomas’ records and times post-transition have become slower than her pre-transition times. In the 200-yard her times are 2.6% slower, in the 500-yard her times are 5.9% slower and in the 1,650-yard she is 7.3% slower.
Transitioning in life is never easy for someone, and people are completely bashing you all the time. Choosing to transition was a big and hard decision for Thomas, as it would be for anyone deciding to go down the same path.
Transgender people have the same rights as any other human, and seeing the world as sports as any different isn’t right.
Thomas is not the only transgender athlete, Laurel Hubbard, a New Zealand weightlifter was the first openly transgender athlete to compete at an individual event in the Summer Olympics and the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Olympics.
Since Hubbard transitioned from male to female, she had to deal with a lot of backlash from people believing it was unfair since there is a stereotype that male is typically stronger than females. But, Hubbard underwent hormone therapy to transition before she decided to resume weightlifting.
One of the most notable transgender athletes, Kyle Allums was the first transgender person to play NCAA Division 1 sports. He originally came out while playing basketball for George Washington University women’s team in 2010.
Many transgender athletes leave a mark on the sport they play, not just if they’ve won but because they have the courage to be their true selves.
Transgender people, whether they transition to a man or a woman, deserve to be able to compete without being discriminated against. Having the news outlets say transgender athletes shouldn’t be able to compete is just dehumanizing to see.
Sports are meant to express teamwork and passion in the first place, denying someone the right to compete just because you don’t agree with who they are. Sports originally started as people to get active and have a love for something, and nothing changed whether
Thomas, Hubbard, Allums and many others deserve to do what they love and deserve to have the same basic human rights just like anyone else. If you are offended by any transgender athlete winning a competition, think to yourself, are you mad because they won or because they are transgender.
Either answer says a lot about you.
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