Three former Penn swimmers have filed a lawsuit calling for trans athelete Lia Thomas’ swimming records to be scrubbed.
It comes just a day before President Donald Trump signed a new executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sport.
Yesterday (February 5), the 78-year-old signed papers surrounded by female athletes who he invited to the White House to witness the event.
But just one day before he signed the new law, former teammates of trans athlete Lia Thomas filed a lawsuit against several organizations accusing them of defying federal laws by allowing the 25-year-old to compete against them and share a changing room.
Trans athlete Lia Thomas’ former teammates have filed a lawsuit to have her records expunged (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
What is the lawsuit alleging?
Swimmers Ellen Holmquist, Margot Kaczorowski, and Grace Estabrook – who all filed the suit – have named University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, the Ivy League Council of Presidents, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the suit. Thomas herself was not named as a defendant.
The trio are hopeful that their efforts will see the records set by fellow University of Pennsylvania graduate Thomas expunged.
Thomas, who was born in Austin, Texas, started hormone replacement therapy in 2019 and became the first openly transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I national championship after her victory in the women’s 500-yard freestyle event in 2022.
A new rule was later introduced by World Aquatics which banned anyone who had ‘been through male puberty’ from competing in women’s races, which resulted in Thomas taking the organization to court and ultimately losing, meaning she could not compete in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Lia Thomas stands in first place after winning the 500-yard freestyle (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Now, Estabrook has spoken out about the new lawsuit, saying in a press release issued yesterday by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports: “I never expected my Ivy League education to teach me that women must silently accept losing their opportunities and privacy.
“Women’s sports and the leaders who oversee them should not prioritize men’s feelings over fairness and integrity.”
Thomas’ former teammates claim the experience of sharing a team with her during the 2021/22 season has ‘repeatedly emotionally traumatized’ them, alleging their privacy was violated.
A class-action claim was also cited on behalf of all the 206 female athletes who took part in the Harvard hosted 2022 Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships.
The complaint claimed that female swimmers ‘became captive and collateral damage to the Ivy League’s illegal social science experiment’.
A spokesperson for the NCAA said: “College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships.”
Similarly, a spokesperson for Harvard University said: “We don’t comment on active litigation.”
UNILAD has contacted the University of Pennsylvania and the Ivy League Council of Presidents for comment.
Donald Trump’s new executive order on trans women
It comes as Trump signed his third transgender-focused order yesterday, expressing he wants transgender women to be banned from competing in female sports.
Lia Thomas pictured after winning the 500m freestyle event at the University of Pennsylvania in 2022 (Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
According to the order – which is titled ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ – the Trump administration wants the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ‘change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject’ ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
The order empowers the Secretary of State’s Office to pressure the IOC to amend standards governing Olympic sporting events ‘to promote fairness, safety and the best interests of female athletes by ensuring that eligibility for participation in women’s sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone reduction’.
As well as this, the order wants the ‘immediate reinforcement’ against schools and athletic associations that deny women single-sex sports and single-sex changing rooms, Sky News reports.
The order also calls for the secretary of state and the Department of Homeland Security to ‘review and adjust, as needed, policies permitting admission to the United States of males seeking to participate in women’s sports’.
There is no evidence male athletes have competed in women’s Olympics events.
Speaking before signing the controversial order, Trump said: “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women.
“We’ve gotten the woke lunacy out of our military and now we’re getting it out of women’s sports.”
China has hit back at the US after President Donald Trump imposed a tariff on items shipped from the East Asian country.
The new POTUS implemented the tariffs as he seeks to tackle what the White House has described as an ‘extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl’.
When it comes to China specifically, a press release from the White House claimed Chinese officials had ‘failed to take the actions necessary to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels and shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations’
February 4, 2024 – the day Trump‘s trade war began, and within minutes of the tariffs taking effect, President Xi Jinping retaliated.
What are tariffs?
President Donald Trump has started a trade war with China after imposing a 10 percent tariff on goods shipped from the East Asian country (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Tariffs are taxes imposed on foreign goods, meaning many of these goods will cost more to sell in the US – so ultimately, the consumer will pay.
Advanced countries fell out of favor with tariffs following World War II, because they often lead to ‘reduced trade, higher prices for consumers, and retaliation from abroad’, the Council on Foreign Relations reports… which is what we’ve seen from China.
On Saturday (February 1), Trump signed an executive order to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, while all energy resources from the US’ northern neighbor faced just a 10 percent tariff, as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on shipped goods from China – coming into play today (February 4).
China’s response to Trump’s tariffs
Jinping has hit back at Trump following levies imposed on Chinese goods by the US (ANTHONY KWAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
China’s Finance Ministry has announced plans to impose taxes of 15 percent on coal and liquified natural gas from the US, as well as a 10 percent levy on crude oil, farming equipment and some cars. These will come into play on Monday (February 10).
The nation has also released a statement detailing plans to investigate Google.
It read: “Because Google is suspected of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation has initiated an investigation into Google in accordance with the law.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese Commerce Ministry and its Customs Administration claimed it was also imposing export controls to ‘safeguard national security interests’ on tellurium, molybdenum, tungsten, ruthenium and ruthenium-related items.
UNILAD has contacted Google for comment.
Why Trump imposed tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico
Trump speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping after a handshake at the G20 Summit in Osaka, back during Trump’s first term in charge (KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP via Getty Images)
The Republican claims Canada, Mexico and China pose an ‘extraordinary threat’ due to the number of ‘illegal aliens and drugs’ smuggled into the States, and even constitutes it as a ‘national emergency’.
In regards to China specifically, the White House added: “In response to China’s intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and other unreasonable behavior, President Trump acted with conviction to impose tariffs on imports from China, using that leverage to reach a historic bilateral economic agreement.”
It all stems from a talk he gave to the House GOP (Grand Old Party, otherwise known as the Republican Party) retreat in Florida, toward the end of last month.
There he vowed to end federal income taxes, in favor of taxing foreign countries through tariffs – which he has done so far with China, while suspending the taxes imposed on Canada and Mexico’s shipped goods after both agreed to send more forces to the border.
The future for transgender people in the military is looking uncertain as newly sworn in president Donald Trump continues his tirade against the far-left.
The 78-year-old has wasted no time in signed off a wide range of executive orders in the seven days since he moved his stuff back into the White House for his second term.
And among those orders, the Republican leader is set to sign an order canceling former POTUS Joe Biden’s instruction from 2021 that allowed transgender people to serve openly in the military.
President Donald Trump is set to sign more executive orders, with one taking aim at transgender service members (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump is expected to sign two more executive orders today (January 27) which will prohibit the trans community from serving in the US armed forces, as well as axing Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from the military.
One of the orders will detail new military standards regarding gender pronouns, as well as mental and physical readiness that will see transgender people be banned from the military.
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Brock Stone has been fighting tirelessly for more than 15 years against those who wish to harm the US, but after all his efforts, he could be facing an exile from the military.
“I went to Afghanistan. I did all these things. I mean, what does that tell me? That tells me I’m not welcome,” Stone told ABC News Live back in 2021.
Experienced 1st Officer Brock Stone previously spoke of the possibility of trans people being unable to serve their country (YouTube/ABC News)
“That tells me that I am not respected as myself.”
Yes, this soon-to-be new executive order isn’t as new as you’d think. Back in 2017, Trump sidelined all transgender people from fighting for their country.
Stone is a cryptologic technician who speaks three languages, and his work is to decipher foreign intelligence and analyze electronic threats.
“All the adversaries you hear about in the news are always out to get us. Not all those people speak English, and that’s where I come in,” Stone explained.
CNN was able to speak with two White House officials who had seen the documents.
Protestors gathered in New York to picket against discrimination towards the LGBT community back in 2017 following Trump’s decision to ban transgender people from serving in the US military (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Citing a fact sheet, one of them told the outlet: “It can take a minimum of 12 months for an individual to complete treatments after transition surgery, which often involves the use of heavy narcotics.
“During this period, they are not physically capable of meeting military readiness requirements and require ongoing medical care. This is not conducive for deployment or other readiness requirements.”
As of 2018, it was estimated that 14,000 transgender service members were employed by the US military, according to the Palm Center.
President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders since reclaiming control of the country, and a fleet of those take aim at the millions of illegal immigrants living in the US.
The Republican put pen to paper on an order that will see those living in the nation without the proper papers will be deported, with the process having already began.
President Donald Trump has taken aim at those living in the US illegally (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Who is the US’ ‘border czar’?
Firstly, let’s clear up what it means – a czar is person appointed by government to advise on and coordinate policy in a particular area.
Former US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan was anointed the ‘border czar’ for the Trump administration, soon after the 47th president discovered he’d be moving back into the White House.
Now, speaking to ABC News, the 63-year-old confirmed that following Trump’s signature on a string of executive orders to do with foreigners settling down in the country, any resident who is in the US illegally is ‘on the table’ for deportation.
Homan explained how the military have been deployed to help out at the Mexican border, and how Trump is ‘sending a strong signal to the world, our border’s closed’.
Border czar Tom Homan spoke about deporting illegal immigrants in lengthy ABC interview (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Tom Homan on deporting illegal immigrants
Co-anchor of This Week, Martha Raddatz replied: “So, is this what we will see every single day, ending in what the president has promised is millions and millions being deported?”
Homan responded: “Yes. But you’re going to see the numbers steadily increase, the number of arrests nationwide as we open up the aperture. Right now, it’s concentrating on public safety threats, national security threats. That’s a smaller population.
“So, we’re going to do this on priority base, that’s President Trump‘s promise. But as that aperture opens, there’ll be more arrests nationwide.”
He continued: “If you’re in the country illegally, you’re on the table, because it’s not OK to, you know, violate the laws of this country. You got to remember, every time you enter this country illegally, you violated a crime under Title Eight, the United States Code 1325, it’s a crime.
“So, if you’re in a country illegally, you got a problem. And that’s why I’m hoping those who are in the country illegally, who have not been ordered removed by the federal judge, should leave.”
Trump has signed a slew of executive orders since taking control of the Oval Office (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Executive order: ‘Protecting American people against invasion’
The order accuses Biden’s administration of letting ‘millions of illegal aliens’ cross the borders.
“Many of these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans. Others are engaged in hostile activities, including espionage, economic espionage, and preparations for terror-related activities.” it says.
“Many have abused the generosity of the American people, and their presence in the United States has cost taxpayers billions of dollars at the Federal, State, and local levels.
“Enforcing our Nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States. The American people deserve a Federal Government that puts their interests first and a Government that understands its sacred obligation to prioritize the safety, security, and financial and economic well-being of Americans.”
