Topline Lia Thomas, the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I individual national title in March, defended her right to participate in women’s sports in her first on-camera interview since becoming a central figure in the debate on transgender athletes participating in women’s sports. Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas stands at the podium at the NCAA swimming and … [+] diving championships in March. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Key Facts Thomas told Good Morning America in an interview aired Tuesday morning: “Trans people don’t transition for athletics, we transition to be happy.” The winner of the 2021-22 NCAA national championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, Thomas became a figure of unwanted national attention as the debate about whether transgender women should participate in women’s sports raged. Thomas, who began to transition her sophomore year in 2019, told GMA being able to compete in swimming prevented her from transitioning earlier. Key Background Thomas previously competed for Penn’s men’s swimming and diving team bef… Click below to read the full story from Forbes
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