Former member of the Penn women’s swim team, Paula Scanlan, testified this week before the House Judiciary Subcommittee where she described the treatment she received as a student athlete in the era of transgender athletes. Scanlan recounted that she was forced to change in the same locker room as Will Thomas, most commonly known as “Lia,” who is a biological male on the women’s swim team.
Paula Scanlan via Crain & Company YouTube
Scanlan, a sexual assault survivor, spoke with five other women as part of the House-titled discussion, “The Dangers and Due Process Violations of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Children.”
“My teammates and I were forced to undress in the presence of Lia, a 6-foot-4 biological male, fully intact with male genitalia, 18 times per week,” Scanlan explained to the representatives and other in attendance.
“Some girls opted to change in bathroom stalls and others used the family bathrooms to avoid this,” she continued. “When we tried to voice our concerns to the athletic department, we were told that Lia swimming and being in our locker room was a non-negotiable and were offered psychological services to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male.”
I'm so proud of @PaulaYScanlan for being vulnerable and speaking her truth. She's a megaphone for how SO many of us women feel. Thank you, Paula.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) July 27, 2023
In other words, they were offered brainwashing in order to force themselves to get naked in front of a man with a fully functioning penis.
“I know of women with sexual trauma,” Scanlan continued, “who are adversely impacted by having biological males in their locker room without consent. I know this because I am one of these women. I was sexually assaulted on June 3 of 2016. I was only sixteen years old. I was able to forgive my attacker, but violence against women still exists.”
“While there have been a lot of notions that this is such a minority group of people [being affected] this one transgender athlete, Lia Thomas, affected hundreds of girls. There were hundreds of girls at the NCAA championship in tears over the situation, being bumped out of their spots in competition, failing to qualify for a meet, or having to change in the locker look next to a 6-foot-4 biological male.”
The situation she was referring to was when Lia Thomas came in first place in the Women’s division in 2022, easily defeating all of his female opponents.
This caused outrage across the country and has caused even international discussions regarding whether or not athletic institutions would protect the integrity of women’s sports or concede to allowing biological men to compete with biological women.