After President Donald Trump’s administration paused $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania over its inclusion of transgender athletes, Transgender athlete Lia Thomas’s former teammates have spoken out.
Highlights
- Lia Thomas is again at the center of discussion as Trump’s administration paused UPenn’s $175 funding.
- Lia Thomas was born as William Thomas, the younger child of Bob and Carrie Thomas.
- She came out as a transgender to her supportive parents in her college freshman year.
On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, the Trump administration suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania.
The decision has been made due to the policies of UPenn allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Moreover, this action aligns with President Trump’s executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” aiming to enforce Title IX provision against Sex-based discrimination.
Following the funding pause, many women who had to compete alongside former transgender UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas have spoken out in celebration.
🎥 Former Penn swimmer & Lia Thomas’ teammate, Ellen Holmquist, joins @tracegallagher w/attorney Bill Bock to explain why she’s suing Penn & the NCAA.
— ICONS (@icons_women) March 21, 2025
Her top priority: “making sure [young girls] feel safe in their locker rooms and their safe spaces that are dedicated for… pic.twitter.com/t75WbwmBER
Providing a joint statement to Fox News Digital via the Independent Council for Women’s Sports, three of Lia’s Former teammates stated,
We are so glad that Universities are beginning to see that there is a cost to openly harming female students on their campuses and we hope the pressure only increases. Penn and other universities within the NCAA, and their own rogue leadership, have violated federal law and hurt women.
Lia Thomas former teamates
Previously, women’s athletes filed lawsuits against the University, the Ivy League, and the NCAA.
They had claimed that their Title IX was violated by allowing Thomas, a transgender woman, to compete in women’s events and use the women’s locker room.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs seek to rescind Thomas’s accolades and remove her records from official standings.
Lia Thomas’s Parents, Bob, And Carrie Thomas Have Unwavering Support For Her
Thomas was born in May 1999 as William Thomas and was assigned male at birth. She grew up in Austin, Texas, with the warm nurturing of her father, Bob, and mother, Carrie Thomas.
Lia started swimming at five with her parents’ support and later earned sixth place in the boys’ events at the state high school swimming championship.
Moreover, Thomas is an openly transgender athlete; she began to question her gender identity toward the end of high school.
During the summer of 2018, Lia came out as transgender to her family after her freshman year at college, and her father, Bob, and mother, Carrie, openly accepted the change.
Furthermore, Lia’s parents have been her unwavering source of support and encouragement. After she came out, her father, Bob, talked,
We will do everything and anything we need to do to have Lia be part of this family. We were not going to lost her.
Bob Thomas
Similarly, in choosing a new name for a new identity, Lia Catherine, then a collegiate swimmer, chose the name her mother came up with: “Lia.” Catherine is Carrie’s birth name.
Furthermore, in 2022, when Lia Catherine Thomas won the Women’s 500-yard freestyle event, her parents cheered the loudest in the audience.
Lia Thomas just took first place at the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Women's Swimming & Diving Championships in the 500 freestyle. #SaveWomensSports pic.twitter.com/UWvDQMYHRJ
— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) March 17, 2022
Moreover, Carrie is praying with clasped hands for a good record for Lia. Later, Bob and Carrie wrapped their child in hugs and wished for upcoming records.
Lia Thomas’s parents have a not-so-public life, but they always make sure to be present for her in her games.
Moreover, during legal controversies and the ongoing discussion of Lia Thomas’s exclusion from the women’s collegiate swimming team, her parents are always there to defend Lia.
Additional Information
- Lia Thomas’s older brother, Wes Thomas, swam on the University of Pennsylvania Men’s team for four years.
- By the conclusion of her career at UPenn in 2022, Lia’s rank had moved from 65th on the men’s team to 1st on the women’s team in the 500-yard freestyle.
