On July 1, 2025, the University of Pennsylvania announced a retroactive erasure of all records and titles earned by Lia Thomas during her time with the women’s swim team and a policy change effectively barring trans women from competing in women’s sports programs going forward. This decision stems from a settlement with the U.S. Department of Education initiated by the previous Trump administration, which threatened to rescind $175 million in federal funding unless UPenn modified its athletic policies.
Lia Thomas made history in 2022 as the first openly trans woman to win an NCAA Division I championship in any sport, capturing the women’s 500-yard freestyle. Her story became a flashpoint in the wider debate over trans inclusion in athletics, with supporters highlighting her adherence to NCAA and Ivy League hormone-treatment requirements and critics claiming residual male puberty advantages.
The Education Department’s settlement requires UPenn not only to strip Thomas’s results but also to “restore” accolades to cisgender athletes who finished behind her and to issue formal apologies. Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the move “a great victory for women and girls … across our nation.” However, for many in the trans community, the outcome feels less like a victory and more like a chilling reversal, undermining both personal achievement and the broader fight for fairness and inclusion.
For Lia, whose transition included over a year of testosterone suppression, erasing her records is not just a removal of times on a leaderboard; it is a denial of her lived identity, her work, and her resilience. The optics of this forced erasure may discourage current and future trans athletes who choose to come forward, train, and compete within the rules set before them.
Moreover, the broader implications are serious. This decision, happening just weeks after the NCAA aligned with a federal executive order banning trans women from women’s sports, heightens legal and social pressures on universities, youth sports programs, and high schools across the country.
So what now for Lia and the community?
- Institutional accountability matters: UPenn has followed legally binding directives, but trans folks deserve institutions that uplift their dignity. This moment underscores the urgent need for sports organizations to build policies grounded in science and equity, policies that respect trans identities instead of erasing them.
- The narrative needs balance: Sports should be a space for all women, cis and trans. Trans rights advocates continue to push for frameworks that weigh factors like hormone levels and fairness while recognizing the lived experiences and journeys of transgender athletes.
- Continued advocacy is essential: Legal challenges are already underway from former UPenn teammates who support the university’s reversal. Civil rights groups and inclusive athletic policy experts remain committed to laws that protect safe access and inclusivity without discrimination.
The Bottom Line
In solidarity with Lia and future trans athletes, your wins, your records, and your growth matter. Institutions may erase what’s on paper, but your identity and journey remain irreversible. Transvitae was founded on the belief that “living well is the best revenge,” and no court order or policy shift can silence that truth.
Let’s keep this conversation alive around coffee tables, in locker rooms, and within administrative offices. The goal? Sports that build people, not break them.
