BARRIE, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A 50-year-old man, who claims to be female, was allowed to compete in a girls swimming competition and use their changeroom for a second time this year.
This weekend, 50-year-old Nicholas Cepeda, a York University professor whose research specialties include children and youth and who goes by the name of “Melody Wiseheart,” swam against girls as young as 13 during the Trojan Cup swimming competition at the East Bayfield Community Centre in Barrie, Ontario, according to a report by Rebel News.
“Our fears were confirmed that Cepeda does not change and shower in the male or even the family change rooms,” Rebel’s David Menzies reported. “Nope, we witnessed this guy going into the girls’ changeroom/showers. It was equal parts egregious, outrageous and downright gross.”
“This is really disturbing,” Campaign Life Coalition’s Jack Fonseca told LifeSiteNews. “When adult males are allowed into the changerooms and showers of underage girls, and protected in this perversion by those in authority, I have to wonder if we’re witnessing the mainstreaming of pedophilia before our very eyes.”
“Why would a 50-year old man want to be in the showers and changerooms with 13-year old girls?” he questioned. “Might it be for the sexual arousal of watching naked and semi-naked girls while they shower and undress? This has to be considered and should be investigated by police.”
According to Rebel News, the Barrie Trojans Swim Club seemed in favor of allowing Cepeda to compete, and the East Bayfield Community Centre went as far as to call the police on Rebel News for reporting on the event.
It is unclear why Cepeda was permitted to compete against the girls considering the recent decision of World Aquatics to create an “open category” for “transgender” men who “transitioned” to female following puberty.
LifeSiteNews reached out to the Barrie Trojans Swim Club to ask why Cepeda was allowed to compete considering he went through male puberty, but the club failed to respond by time of publication.
This is not the first time Cepeda has competed against young girls. In October, Cepeda swam against children ages 13-14 during the Richmond Hill Aquatic Centre Fall Classic swimming competition.
Event organizers initially denied that Cepeda had participated in the event until confronted with his name on a copy of their schedule. They “eventually” relented, Menzies reported, “but they didn’t want to get into a debate about gender and age.” Representatives for governing bodies Swimming Canada and Swimming Toronto were reportedly “too busy” to answer questions about the incident.
In recent months, many female athletes have spoken out against allowing biological men who claim to be women to compete against females and forcing women to share changing spaces with them.
In July, Paula Scanlan, a sexual assault survivor and female athlete who swam on the same team as gender-confused male William “Lia” Thomas, testified before the U.S. Congress that she and fellow female swimmers were forced to change in front of the male athlete 18 times per week while the university tried to “re-educate” the women in an attempt to lower inhibitions about sharing their locker room with, and undressing in front of, a man.
Thomas made national news when he was allowed to compete on the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team last year after having represented the men’s squad in the previous three seasons.
Predictably, Thomas went from being one of the lowest-ranked male swimmers in the country to an above-average female competitor, even winning the 500-yard freestyle national championship.
As the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) continues to defend allowing Thomas to take women’s awards, many of the women forced to swim with him have come forward to condemn the institution.
NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines was the first to speak up in defense of women. In March 2022, Thomas swam against Gaines at the 200-meter event, tying with her for fifth place.
During the subsequent photo shoot of the winners, officials made Gaines pose with the sixth-place trophy while Thomas posed with the trophy for fifth place. The NCAA eventually mailed a trophy to Gaines.
In July, Gaines condemned the NCAA for nominating Thomas as the NCAA Woman of the Year, saying, “It’s a mockery. That’s what this whole thing has turned into, something we as female athletes have dedicated our whole lives to. It’s something that people are laughing at. It’s an insult. It’s incredibly disheartening. And quite frankly it’s wrong.”
Other female swimmers and athletes complained about Thomas’ participation in the event. Virginia Tech swimmer Réka György told the NCAA in a letter that “[e]very event that transgender athletes competed in was one spot taken away from biological females.”
A letter sent by former Olympians and coaches from the University of Arizona after Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle also asked the NCAA to protect women’s sports.