(LifeSiteNews) — A former teammate of William “Lia” Thomas has spoken out publicly after appearing under a concealed identity in the What is a Woman documentary.
Earlier this month, Paula Scanlan, a former swim teammate of Thomas on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team, spoke with filmmaker Matt Walsh to publicly condemn the university for allowing a transgender-identifying male to compete against women.
A teammate of Lia Thomas appeared in What Is A Woman anonymously. A few days ago she came to us and said she is ready to come out publicly and tell her story. I had a longer conversation with Paula where she revealed a number of details that weren’t covered in the film. Watch: pic.twitter.com/wlknGmslJC
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 5, 2023
“I thought maybe if I waited a year … these feelings I felt — the unfairness, that this is not the truth, this is not just — would go away, and they never really did,” Scanlan said, explaining her decision to go public.
She revealed that she felt inspired by former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who has openly condemned the NCAA for allowing men to compete against women.
“I am still feeling so passionately about this that I want to join her,” Scanlan said. “It’s about fighting for women and girls across the country.”
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.
‘These institutions failed us’
According to Scanlan, in September 2019, the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team held a meeting during which Thomas told the women’s team that he would transition to their team in a year.
“I kind of felt shocked,” Scanlan remembered. “I felt a little uncomfortable.”
While her other teammates appeared to be happy with this decision, Scanlan felt that they were covering up their shock and discomfort by pretending to be happy.
When the team was first informed that Thomas would be swimming with them, they were told that he might use a different locker room or continue to use the men’s locker room. However, the next year, Scanlan saw that the women’s locker room chart assigned a locker to Thomas, meaning that he would be changing with the women.
“I was definitely uncomfortable,” Scanlan remembered. “There’s a few bathroom stalls in the bathroom, and I did notice some girls changing the bathroom stalls.”
While Scanlan did not personally compete with Thomas, she witnessed her female teammates miss out on chances to compete because they were overlooked in favor of Thomas.
“One of the girls, very upset, she went crying to the athletic department,” she recalled. “Something in that conversation, I don’t know what they said to her, but she then was completely on board and thought ‘Lia’ swimming was like this magical beautiful thing.”
The women’s team, minus Thomas, was invited to a meeting with the athletic department, Scanlan said. During the meeting, the women were told, “Don’t talk to the media. You will regret it.”
“Another thing they said is ‘Lia’ swimming is a non-negotiable,” she said. “And then they provided us with counseling services to help us be okay.”
“There was something going on in that athletic department that wanted to keep us quiet, and I was like, this is getting scary,” Scanlan added, explaining that the university made her feel like she was the “problem” for being opposed to Thomas swimming with women.
While Scanlan’s teammates had previously confided to her that they did not think it was fair for Thomas to compete, after this meeting, the girls seemed too scared to talk about it.
A violation of free speech
When Scanlan began her university studies, she remembered being excited to study in a place that valued and encouraged free speech.
“Candace Owens actually spoke at the University of Pennsylvania my freshman year,” she recalled. “I said that this is what this is about. We can have conservative voices on campus; we can have liberal voices on campus, and I was so excited to have all these opportunities to listen to opinions from both.”
However, over time, Scanlan realized that “their agenda is to have everyone believe what they want them to believe.”
“What’s so scary to me about this whole thing and there’s no discussion here,” she added.
Scanlan experienced censorship firsthand when she was asked to write an editorial piece for the university newspaper that offered an opposing view to Thomas competing against women.
Scanlan remembers the piece being difficult to write as she was given “a list of rules” that included being forbidden to refer to transgenderism as a choice and being forced to use “preferred pronouns.”
However, she eventually wrote the piece, focusing on biology and statistics to prove that the NCAA policy to allow transgenders to compete was “deeply flawed.”
While the university initially published her article after heavily editing it, it was pulled 45 minutes later. Scanlan was told that it would not be republished and there would be no discussion over it.
“This entire country and many other countries have been built on having discussions where people disagree,” Scanlan told Walsh. “The Constitution was written over discussions and compromises.”
Pushing back against the tide
“I do see turning points,” Scanlan noted, remarking that several states have passed laws restricting gender-confused men from competing against women.
“I don’t think we’re done and I’m here to fight until we have every single state in the United States and every country in the world,” she declared.
Scanlan encourages female athletes to stand up against the current agenda, especially for younger girls starting out who “don’t know how to speak for themselves.”
Athletes, politicians, and celebrities alike have begun to speak out against allowing men to dominate in female sports.
In May, Twitter CEO Elon Musk condemned the NCAA and encouraged Riley Gaines for condemning allowing Thomas to swim against women, tweeting, “Shame on NCAA.”