“Humiliating and devastating”: Kim Jones speaks up against controversial nomination of Lia Thomas for ‘Woman of the Year’ by UPenn
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Lia Thomas
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has caused controversy over the entirety of the last year after competing and winning in the women’s category at the NCAA National Championships. Now, to add to the growing unpopularity of the situation the University of Pennsylvania has nominated the controversial swimmer for “Woman of the Year”- a nomination unwelcome by everyone. Thomas earlier competed for the men’s team at UPenn before switching to the women’s team after her transition last year.
The controversial move was not welcome by anyone, as Thomas received backlash from fellow swimmers, parents and experts alike. Needless to say, many other athletes and their parents as well as coaches were extremely unhappy about it. Kim Jones, the mother of an Ivy League student was extremely outraged at the decision, saying that the nomination of Thomas was “humiliating” and “devastating”; it showed that “women don’t matter”.
Mother of Ivy League swimmer enraged after Lia Thomas nomination
“[The message is] they’re not even worthy of dignity and comfort in their locker rooms,” Jones said according to News Break. “And this nomination is just the embodiment of that message. It’s really frustrating to understand where the current NCAA and Ivy League and especially Penn’s stance is on the value of women in modern society.” Jones was an all star American player, whose daughter competed against Thomas.
Jones and Marshi Smith, a former NCAA champion swimmer, co-founded ICONS, the Independent Council on Women’s Sports. “The message is hey’re not even worthy of dignity and comfort in their locker rooms. And this nomination is just the embodiment of that message. It’s really frustrating to understand where the current NCAA and Ivy League and especially Penn’s stance is on the value of women in modern society,” said Jones.
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Saivee Phatak
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