This week marks exactly two years since the world watched Lia Thomas, a biological man, steal a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women’s national championship.
As an NCAA athlete, it enraged me to watch them pass that prized trophy over to a man. The thousands of hours in the pool, the harsh training, the social sacrifice—suddenly, the work these girls put in didn’t matter anymore. The indomitable advantages of a 6’1” boy shadowed it all, erasing their dreams of proving to be the best female athlete. After all, a truly “female” category didn’t seem to exist at all anymore.
Outraged, I joined with Concerned Women for America (CWA) and their Young Women for America(YWA) leaders to protest the event. We stood in solidarity outside the Georgia Tech swimming complex to relay a very simple message to female athletes inside—we see you, and we will fight for you. We simply held signs indicating our opposition, and that was enough to swarm hugs and high-fives from the overwhelming majority of parents and athletes.
That very same day, CWA filed a Civil Rights complaint with the Department of Education against the University of Pennsylvania for their Title IX violation. They denied every one of those female swimmers fair and equal opportunity by allowing a man on their women’s swim team.
That summer, President Joe Biden’s Department of Education released a proposed Title IX rule change attempting to redefine a fundamental characteristic engrained in humanity – the consequential rule sought to redefine sex to “gender identity.” It proved wildly out of step with the will of the people and attracted record-breaking responses from outraged parents, athletes, coaches, and more. However, the Administration plundered on toward a future without sex-based protections, and we continue to face the consequences every day.
Men stealing women’s opportunities were a part of a larger, calculated scheme to fundamentally disrupt the progress Title IX established and to wage war on womanhood.
It seems nearly every day there is a new story of a male athlete dominating female competition.
Just last week, YWA again protested a male participating in an NCAA track and field championship. A male athlete is also set to compete in an NCAA women’s rowing team; a male athlete verbally committed to an NCAA volleyball team; a male athlete joined an NCAA women’s swim team; a male athlete set an NCAA women’s school track record … I could go on and on, but these occurrences are far from isolated to collegiate opportunities. The free-flowing participation of women in sports was suddenly being blocked by a growing number of men.
In the past year, men have dominated high school volleyball, basketball, wrestling, field hockey, soccer, cross country, track and field, and fencing—sometimes leaving girls hurt and always leaving them cheated. More than 20 states have passed bills protecting female athletes within their borders. But girls competing beyond state competition or those who live in states with legislatures hostile to the cause are left defenseless.
Sometimes, it feels like we have done all we can, yet Democrats in Congress seem intent to keep men in women’s sports and block legislation against it every chance they get. The White House has promised a veto if protections finally pass.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports presented a legal demand letter to the NCAA, asking they answer for their Title IX violations, but it passed largely ignored. I even hand-delivered a letter to the Chair of the Board of the NCAA, who wouldn’t even look me in the eye.
Our coalition of current and former athletes has asked for meetings with NCAA leadership multiple times.
Just when it seems hope is lost, with so many authorities working against you, the tides are finally turning. Recently, Bill Bock, former General Counsel of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, left the NCAA over the disgrace of the organization allowing men to infiltrate their women’s categories. A university president released a statement condemning the same issue after a male athlete beat one of his female students in a women’s track and field championship. “There is no way that I, as their president, will continue to sit on the sidelines and refuse to advocate for change,” he said. Wait, is enough finally enough?
Recently, the professional golf league NXXT ruled to prohibit male intrusion into their women’s league after a male golfer won a competition in January. The CEO said the decision came after speaking to many coaches, players, doctors, and scientists. Since that day in front of Georgia Tech two years ago, we’ve seen the problem worsen, but we’ve also seen reason for hope. Many have joined the fight for fairness, including NCAA swimmers Riley Gaines, Paula Scanlan, and Kylee Alons.
This week, female athletes’ contempt for the NCAA's ignorance culminated in a lawsuit, finally forcing their hand to answer to the blatant and intentional harm they’ve inflicted on the female athletes they govern. This indicates a clear message that the NCAA and President Biden must hear: the time of suppressing and ignoring female athletes is over.
After being blocked by very powerful forces, their dam has a fatal crack that is widening. Common sense tells us girls entering sports in elementary school should not have their high school positions stolen by a boy. That is the future we are fully committed to, and we WILL succeed.
Macy Petty is an NCAA college volleyball player and a leader of Young Women for America, the collegiate program of Concerned Women for America.