The Court of Arbitration for Sport Ruled Against Lia Thomas, Banning Trans Women from Competing at High Levels of Women’s Swimming
There has been nation-wide debate surrounding the topic of transgender women competing in elite women’s swimming. In 2023 Lia Thomas asked the sports court in Switzerland to overturn the rule established in 2022 which stated that transgender women who have been through male puberty cannot compete in women’s races.
The 2022 rule additionally created an open division of competition for transgender swimmers. However, historically there was a lack of space for trans swimmers and oppressive and inequitable systems must be held accountable for that.
Thomas, who became the first trans woman to win an NCAA championship in 2022 prior to the establishment of the rule, felt that the “blanket bans preventing trans women from competing are discriminatory and deprive us of our valuable athletic opportunities that are central to our identities.” Advocates for women in sports, including several other olympians and national swimming organizations, supported the ban arguing that without the law, trans women created an unfair competitive environment. This largely has to do with levels of testosterone, lung capacity, muscle, and height which can put them at an advantage when competing. This explains why in the 200 freestyle, swimmer Lia Thomas was ranked as #554 in the men’s league, and jumped to #65 within the women’s league, where she competed against women who did not possess the same biological advantages as herself.
While we celebrate and respect transgender women, and believe that there should be a solution found that serves equity to everyone. We agree that in an arena of competition where the women spend hours training in and out of the pool, they should not be faced with individuals who possess significant advantages biologically, and in turn obtain positions that they otherwise would not outside of a women’s league. A person’s biological sex should determine their place in an athletic competition, not their gender expression.
The Court of Arbitration ruled against Lia Thomas and her challenge against the policy was dismissed. We celebrate this as a win for women in sports and equal competition!
Written by a cohort of NOW-NYC summer 2024 high school and college-bound interns.