Lia Thomas STRIPPED of Titles as UPenn BANS Trans Athletes from Women’s Sports

The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) revoked the titles of Lia Thomas after they placed a ban on trans athletes from women's sports.

Lia Thomas STRIPPED of Titles as UPenn BANS Trans Athletes from Women’s Sports

Lia Thomas (Image via Imago)

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Trans swimmer Lia Thomas is getting stripped of her titles. On Monday, the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) agreed to comply with the Title IX agreement and placed a ban on transgender athletes from women’s sports.

Thomas became a controversial figure in 2022 when she won the Division I national title while competing against women’s athletes. This sparked a major outrage in the sporting world, with many debating the participation of Thomas.

On Monday, the United States Department of Education announced that UPenn has agreed to enter into a Resolution Agreement to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). This comes after the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR’s) investigation found that the University had violated Title IX by allowing males to compete in women’s sports and allowing them to share a locker room with women as well.

As a result of this, transgender athletes will not be allowed to compete in women’s sports, and all their previous titles will be revoked. This would mean that Lia Thomas will be stripped of her NCAA Championship gold medal and 3 Ivy League gold medals.

The UPenn will release a statement regarding this matter. It will also issue personal apologies to every women athlete who had been impacted because of their violation of the Title IX rules.

Earlier this year, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a bill that would ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. While reacting to this, Thomas expressed that she would continue to fight to overturn this ban.

Riley Gaines reacts to Lia Thomas’ records getting revoked

Lia Thomas suffered a massive setback on Monday as the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) decided to ban transgender athletes and restore all the previous records. Riley Gaines, who was one of those who competed against Thomas at the NCAA Championship, would later react to this.

Lia Thomas and Riley Gaines
Lia Thomas and Riley Gaines (Image via The Boston Globe/Imago)

Gaines has been a huge critic of Thomas since that incident in 2022. The women’s activist has many times slammed Thomas for competing against her and other women’s athletes. She has also attacked the authorities for allowing this to happen and spoke on the experience she had while sharing a locker room with Thomas.

In a tweet on X, the former Kentucky swimmer thanked U.S. President Donald Trump while sharing her thoughts regarding this development.

UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes, and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman. Are pigs flying? God bless @realDonaldTrump.

Gaines was present at the White House earlier this year when Trump signed the bill and passed down the executive order to ban trans athletes from women-related sporting events. She would later thank him and shared a 12-word reaction while resharing the clip of Trump signing the order.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon comments on UPenn decision regarding Lia Thomas and other trans athletes

The announcement by the University of Pennsylvania regarding the ban and revocation of the titles of Lia Thomas and other trans athletes has been the major talking point on social media. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon would call this decision by UPenn a “great victory” for women’s sports.

Linda McMahon and Lia Thomas
Linda McMahon and Lia Thomas (Image via Fox News/The Guardian)

In a statement released by her, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) claimed that the Education Department commends the University for rectifying their previous mistakes.

Today is a great victory for women and girls not only at the University of Pennsylvania, but all across our nation. 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.

Speaking of Lia Thomas, the swimmer enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 and spent a couple of years competing on the men’s team before transitioning into a female. By 2021, she would meet NCAA hormone therapy requirements to compete on the women’s team.

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