Hunter
03/20/24
A conservative University of Iowa student group plans to host the teammate of a transgender NCAA swimmer to discuss the inclusion of transgender men in women’s sports.
The Gazette reports the announcement of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlon’s appearance comes just days after a dozen-plus college athletes sued the NCAA for violating their Title IX rights by letting transgender swimmer Lia Thomas compete in the 2022 national championships. Scanlon is a former teammate of Thomas’.
Scanlon will visit campus Monday for a lecture titled “Men do not belong in Women’s sports.” A Q&A session will follow. A release from Young Americans for Freedom at the University of Iowa says that the talk “will highlight the importance of protecting women’s spaces — including sports, bathrooms and prisons.”
Scanlon starred in conservative commentator Matt Walsh’s documentary “What is a Woman?” Walsh visited the UI campus a year ago. She testified last summer in front of the House Judiciary Committee about her and some of her teammates’ unease about undressing in the presence of transgender swimmer Thomas, who was a member of the men’s team at Pennsylvania before transitioning to a woman.
Scanlon’s lecture comes after the state Board of Regents issued a list of diversity, equity and inclusion directives to its three state-run universities. One of those directives prevents them from barring appearances that come from a different point of view than the majority of campus.