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Megyn Kelly has attacked ESPN for honoring transgender swimmer Lia Thomas as part of it celebration of Women’s History Month.
‘Oh HELL NO!’ the former Fox News host tweeted in response to a video clip celebrating Thomas’s career and her transition.
ESPN honored the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas as part of a ‘Celebrating Women’s History Month’ segment on Sunday.
Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an Ivy League Championship and later an NCAA Championship in the 500-yard freestyle, but has stirred the debate over whether it is fair for trans women to compete in women’s sports. Â
Fox News host Megyn Kelly posted on Twitter to attack ESPN’s decision to honor transgender swimmer Lia Thomas during its Women’s History Month segment
Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an Ivy League Championship and later an NCAA Championship in the 500 free
The segment brought up Thomas’ transition from male to female, her win at the NCAA Championships, and competing amid criticism from the swimming world.
Thomas has denied that she has an unfair competitive advantage due to her gender of birth.Â
‘People will say, “Oh, she just transitioned so she would have an advantage so she could win.” I transitioned to be happy,’ Thomas said in the ESPN clip.Â
‘Trans women are not a threat to women’s sports,’ Thomas told Good Morning America in a famous interview in May.
‘Trans people don’t transition for athletics. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves,’ she said.
Thomas was a men’s swimmer during the first three years of her college career at UPenn, during which she said she was unhappy and uncomfortable. She says she did not transition to get an edge.
‘Oh HELL NO!’ the former Fox News host tweeted in response to a post of the ESPN clip
Thomas became the first trans athlete to win a NCAA Division One championship title
Riley Gaines (right) is seen in March 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia, having swam against Lia Thomas (left) at the NCAA championships
Last month, University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, a 23-year-old 12-time All-American and five-time SEC champion swimmer tweeted: ‘Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title.’
Last spring, Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth place in a national swimming competition. The Kentucky swimmer called out Thomas for having an ‘unfair’ advantage and said that Thomas’ height, muscle mass, and heart and lung size gave her an advantage over competitors.
Gaines described her as an ‘arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman.’
On Sunday, Gaines took issue with ESPN’s decision to praise Thomas’s contribution to women’s sport, and tweeted the hashtag ‘Boycott ESPN’.Â
‘If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out,’ she wrote. Gaines, who studied public health and is now beginning dental school, has become one of the most outspoken advocates against trans women in sport.
ESPN’s segment was titled: ‘Celebrating Women’s History Month’.
A voiceover explained how Thomas made history by becoming the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division One championship, in 2022, in the 500 freestyle.
The Texan-born athlete swam in men’s competitions until beginning their transition in May 2019, and made her debut in the women’s races in December 2021.
‘Being trans is not a choice,’ said Thomas. ‘I didn’t have any other choice because not transitioning was not getting me anywhere.
‘People will say, ‘Oh, she just transitioned so she would have an advantage so she could win.’
‘I transitioned to be happy.’
