Girls, form a human shield around Lia

Glinner has a transcript as well as a backup of the video.

A couple more excerpts:

The Ivy League released their statement literally dripping with sexism. I quote “the Ivy League releases the following statement of support regarding Penn’s Lia Thomas’s participation on the women’s swimming and diving team. Over the past several years, Lia and the University of Pennsylvania have worked with the NCAA to follow all the appropriate protocols in order to comply with the NCAA policy on transgender athlete participation and compete on the Penn women’s swimming and diving team. The Ivy League has adopted and applies the same NCAA policy. The Ivy League reaffirms its unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive environment for all student athletes while condemning transphobia and discrimination in any form. The League welcomes her participation in the sport of women’s swimming and diving and looks forward to celebrating the success of all of our student athletes throughout the season.”

It sounds so right-on, so solidarity fist in the air, doesn’t it – “The Ivy League reaffirms its unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive environment” – but of course it isn’t. The Ivy League is providing a non-inclusive environment: it’s excluding women. The man Lia Thomas is occupying a woman’s place on the team, and he’s stealing wins that would have been women’s. That’s not “inclusive.” Nor is it celebrating the success of all its student athletes, since it’s allowing a man to take that success away from a woman. The Ivy League is just blatantly lying by saying it’s committed to inclusivity for all.

Mandatory meetings were called with scripts read off by coaches from the athletic department or in some cases handed out. The girls, already caught off guard and intimidated but upset, were now silenced. They were manipulated, coerced and emotionally blackmailed. They were told their leagues and their schools had spoken and made their positions clear. They as athletes had made the decisions to be a part of these schools and this league and they needed to support it. They were told if they had opinions, or were asked to speak, they had to clear it through their coaches and their athletic department leaders. This was also of course for their own protection as no one wants their team slung through the mud. Finally, they were told their first priority needed to be the safety and protection of their trans classmates who are being thrust into the media. Any harm or damage that befell their classmates due to expressing opinions that might not support them would be their responsibility.

Breathtaking. Move over; resign yourself to being bumped down a notch by a man who claims to be a woman; shut your damn mouth about it; if anything bad happens to the man it’s your fault.

How do these people live with themselves? I’ll never understand it.

6 Responses to “Girls, form a human shield around Lia”