Three former swimmers for the University of Pennsylvania have sued the Ivy League college to expunge the records of transgender athlete Lia Thomas.
Alums Grace Estabrook, Margot Kaczorowski and Ellen Holmquist filed the suit on Tuesday, alleging they suffered emotional trauma after Thomas competed as a woman, destroying everything they'd worked their entire lives to achieve. The lawsuit was filed one day before President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning biological men from competing in women's sports, the Fox News reports.
The three actual women claim that their former school, along with Harvard University, the NCAA, and the Ivy League Council of Presidents subjected them to harassment and abuse in violation of federal laws by allowing Thomas to compete on their team.
"The UPenn administrators told the women that if anyone was struggling with accepting Thomas’ participation on the UPenn Women’s team, they should seek counseling and support from CAPS and the LBGTQ center," reads the lawsuit.
2004 grads Kaczorowski and Holmquist, and Estabrook, a 2022 graduate, say they were "repeatedly emotionally traumatized" after Thomas was allowed to compete with them in violation of Title IX, and say that school officials pushed pro-trans ideology on them the entire time Thomas was on the team.
They also allege that school administrators invited them to a talk titled "Trans 101," where they were the problem if they had issues with a "trans-identifying male" on their team.
School officials also allegedly warned them against speaking out about Thomas or they'd be labeled transphobes and risk not finding jobs upon graduation.
The defendants are accused of creating a culture of intimidation that forced young women to deny biology. The plaintiffs claim that adding Thomas to their team jeopardized their opportunities, privacy, and safety.
Thomas, who competed for the UPenn Men's Swimming and Diving team between 2017 and 2020 then transitioned to the women's team, coming in first in the 500, 200, and 100-yard freestyle races - setting women's records. Thomas also broke several women's records at the 2022 Ivy League Championship, hosted at Harvard University.
The lawsuit asks a judge to declare that Thomas was ineligible to compete in women's races, and expunge his records, according to The National News Desk.
"The Ivy League’s plan was to crown a man as a women’s champion in one of the most iconic swimming venues in America as scores of national and international journalists described the scene as a landmark civil rights accomplishment to be venerated," reads the lawsuit. "To bring its vision to fruition, the Ivy League engaged in a season-long pressure campaign to keep Thomas eligible to compete and prevent women from speaking up for their equal rights."
The swimmers' attorney, Bioll Bock, told The National News Desk that the alleged "pressure campaign" defied common sense and harmed his clients.
"The Ivy League believed that if America’s oldest and most storied educational institutions led the way, Americans would suppress common sense and submit to radical policies that steal young women’s cherished sports opportunities and obliterate biological reality," he wrote, adding "This lawsuit exposes the behind the scenes scheming that led to the attempt by Harvard University, UPenn, the Ivy League and the NCAA, to impose radical gender ideology on the American college sports landscape."
