Former teammate of trans swimmer Lia Thomas: ‘It’s so important that we have laws’

IOWA CITY — Positioned in a period of American history replete with identity-centered debate, in a place primed for passionate discourse on the topic — given recent legislative action in Iowa to limit transgender rights — Paula Scanlan found herself subject to both cheers and jeers this week on the University of Iowa campus.

“There were girls who were doing everything they could to avoid undressing with men,” Scanlan told an audience of a few dozen Monday night in the Iowa Memorial Union about her experience as a former teammate of transgender NCAA Division I champion Lia Thomas.

“At the NCAA championship, there was a girl … and she found a janitor's closet with a dirty mop that she chose to change in to avoid undressing next to (Thomas),” Scanlan said during an event flanked with heavy police presence both in the room and outside it. “She did that because she felt like she had to. … She said, ‘I don't want any distractions. I don't want to worry about it. I don't want to feel unsafe. I'm going to do what I can to make myself comfortable.’

“And that's what most girls did the entire season.”

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Iowa landscape

Scanlan’s visit to the UI — at the invitation of conservative student group Young Americans for Freedom — came a week after a dozen-plus college athletes sued the NCAA for violating their Title IX rights by letting Thomas compete in the national championships.

It also came in the midst of a legislative session that's seen a rash of proposed transgender-related bills — including one that would have removed gender as a protected class in Iowa civil rights law; another that would have narrowly defined “sex,” “man” and “women” in state code; and others that would have kept transgender Iowans from using their identifying bathroom or mentioning gender identify in grade schools.

Last year, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed bills barring gender-affirming care for transgender minors and preventing transgender students from using bathrooms aligned with their identity. And the year before, she signed legislation barring transgender women and girls from competing in female sports across Iowa schools, colleges and universities — exactly the type of law Scanlan is advocating for more broadly.

Lawmakers also have criticized Iowa’s public universities for restricting conservative speech on their respective campuses and for catering to liberal ideology — including around gender and queer communities. The Board of Regents has responded by imposing new free speech and diversity equity, and inclusion directives and policies.

On Monday, a swarm of protesters showed up for Scanlan’s talk — rallying outside the Iowa Memorial Union. UI freshman Beau Kell, 18, of Cedar Rapids, said he came to voice opposition of messaging from both Scanlan and the YAF student org, which he called “harmful to us and other trans students on campus.”

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‘You really believe that?’

Inside, Scanlan shared her experience on the University of Pennsylvania swim team by using the previous name and pronouns of Thomas — who started her Penn swimming career on the men’s team before transitioning in May 2019. By 2021, Thomas had met NCAA hormone therapy requirements to compete on the women’s team, and in 2022 became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in any sport.

“At first I just thought, this is an uncomfortable situation, but we can still talk about it,” Scanlan said. “I can talk to my teammates about it. I can talk to my coach about it. There was some consensus that most people agreed that it wasn't right. It wasn't fair to varying degrees. But we also weren't sure how fast Thomas was actually going to swim.”

The most extreme outcome, she said, was an NCAA championship. And as the season progressed, Scanlan said, she saw that outcome start to materialize.

"I saw Thomas smash records — break all of our team records, was nationally ranked, faster than Olympians even,“ she said. ”This university head came in and told us that Lia being on the team was non-negotiable. They also told us that if we ever spoke out about it, we would regret it, and we would spend the rest of our lives wishing that we hadn’t. We would never be able to find a job was something else that they told us.”

The college, Scanlan said, offered psychological services to teammates opposed to having Thomas on the team.

“It's one thing to tell us not to speak about it. It's one thing to tell us there's nothing we can do about it,” she said. “But to tell us that we need therapy and we need mental help if we're uncomfortable undressing next to (Thomas), that is completely insane.”

After the season, Scanlan said she got a job and kept quiet — but was growing increasingly upset at news reports of female athletes being injured, launching her into public speaking and advocacy against trans athletes in female divisions.

“This is about equal opportunity, not everyone opportunity,” Scanlan said. “And if we really believe that, then why do we even have women’s sports at all? ”

When several members of the audience applauded at the suggestion, Scanlan addressed them and asked, “You really believe that we should have one sports team?”

“Yes,” an audience member said.

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“OK. That's you’re opinion, and that’s great,” she said. “But there are so many female athletes who are never going to have opportunities to advance now because of people like that and ideas like that.”

During a contentious question-and-answer session, one audience member asked Scanlan whether Thomas ever hurt or attacked a teammate in the bathroom.

“No, but that doesn’t change the fact,” Scanlan said before being interrupted by her questioner, who repeated, “No. The answer was no. Lia didn’t ever hurt anybody.”

“There’s further to why I feel uncomfortable, but if you don’t want to listen, that’s on you,” Scanlan said.

Arguing male and female bodies are biologically different and therefore should be kept separate in athletics and other spaces — like bathrooms — Scanlan said, “The women's category is the easiest category to compete in. This is not controversial to say.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com