Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas recently suggested that female athletes who criticize her for competing in women’s sports are “transphobic,” sparking backlash from tennis legend Martina Navratilova and Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld.
Thomas claimed that recognizing men as men and women as women was derived from “patriarchal ideas” and accused critics of using “the guise of feminism to push transphobic beliefs.”
During a podcast interview with former NCAA swimmer Schuyler Bailar, who identifies as a man, Thomas responded to a letter sent by her female teammates to the NCAA warning against its rules allowing Thomas to participate in women’s sports.
She stated that critics “carry an implicit bias against trans people” but don’t want to express it outright, attempting to play it off as “half-support.”
Gutfeld ripped into Thomas, saying she had “serious balls” to tell feminists how to be feminist and called it “pretty gutsy.”
He argued that people instinctively dislike line cutters and that men identifying as women in sports who win a lot feel like they’re cutting in line.
Gutfeld claimed that people don’t care about adults getting sex changes, but when it’s done right before engaging in female sports or involves children, alarms are raised.
He questioned the focus on individual happiness, asking about the happiness of the people Thomas beats in competitions who have spent years practicing and putting in the hours.
Gutfeld concluded by expressing his disregard for pronouns.
Navratilova, a tennis legend who came out as bisexual and later as a lesbian, responded to Thomas’s accusations on her Twitter account.
She retweeted a link to Thomas’s interview and wrote, “NEWSFLASH Lia – it’s not fair. We shouldn’t have to explain it to you over and over. Also – stop explaining feminism to feminists…”
Navratilova has been vocal about her belief that it is unfair for biological males to compete against women in competitive sports.
She praised the decision by World Athletics to prevent transgender women from competing against women and suggested a way to stop them from being excluded altogether.
Navratilova proposed the idea of “biological female” and “biological girls” categories, as well as an “open” category that would welcome competitors regardless of their gender identity.
This “catch all” division is already being explored in the UK. She stated that an “open” category would eliminate question marks, provisos, asterisks, and doubts, calling it a “simple solution.”
She added that the physical advantages gained from male puberty, such as in Thomas’s case, cannot be reversed even with hormone therapy later in life.
Other rules being explored involve allowing transgender women born male to compete against women if they began hormone therapy or puberty blockers before a certain age.
However, there is significant debate over whether children should be allowed to transition before they are legally considered adults.
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