On Tuesday, Lia Thomas appeared on Good Morning America and said she should be allowed to compete with biological women in sports, saying she does not need “anyone’s permission.”
During the interview, which comes in the wake of doctors saying she has had an unfair advantage against biological women in competitions, Thomas expressed her hopes to compete in the Olympics.
During Tuesday’s interview, Thomas noted that she is “no medical expert.” However, she said that some biological females have more testosterone, bigger hands and feet, and are taller than their competitors.
She stated that she felt she should not be banned from the competition of some women who are also bigger than others.
“I don’t need anybody’s permission to be myself,” she said.
Thomas told Good Morning America that anyone who says she isn’t allowed to compete as a woman is transphobic. She strongly reiterated that they are transphobic even if they support her right to transition but not compete.
“You can’t go halfway and be like ‘I support trans people,’ but only to a certain point.”
Thomas noted that those who support transwomen who have met all the N.C.A.A. requirements could not criticize their participation in women’s sports.
“Trans women are not a threat to women’s sport,” she said.
The trans swimmer also insisted that she did not choose gender transition to perform better in her sport. She said, “Trans people don’t transition for athletics. We transition to be happy and authentic and to be ourselves.”
“Transition to get an advantage is not something that factors into our decisions,” she noted.
Doctors had said that Thomas had an unfair advantage because she went through puberty as a male before taking hormones to become female.
While the hormones reduced Thomas’ testosterone levels, experts have said that one to four years of therapy is not likely enough to reverse what happens to the male teenage body during puberty.