In the subsequent narrative, Paula Scanlan refers to a trans woman as a man in some instances.
A former University of Pennsylvania teammate of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas spoke at the Iowa Memorial Union on March 25th, discussing her experiences and incorrectly identifying the champion swimmer during a” Men Do n’t Belong in Women’s Sports” lecture.
Scanlan recently received a Fresh Americans for Freedom invitation from the University of Iowa. Additionally, the group has welcomed on school liberals Vince Everett Ellison, Chloe Cole, and Matt Walsh.
In a presentation and question-and-answer session where Paula Scanlan constantly emphasized that her position is “pro-women,” she and her teammates discussed some of the “negative experiences” they and others had with a crowd of about 70.
Despite the rain, a little rally gathered.
A smaller group of 15 to 20 people endured the night rain to collect when, during, and after Scanlan’s presentation outside the Iowa Memorial Union, chanting,” Trans rights are human rights”,” Hey, hey, ho, ho, transphobia has got to go”, and using different pro- trans language.
They held symptoms, some diminished by around two hours of continuous, if light, weather. Protestors on the road from entering Madison Street were prevented from setting up barriers around the council’s entrance.
Inside, one visitor who opposed Scanlan wore a word on their mind like a helmet that read,” Trans rights are human right”, skirting rules about banners.
In response to an outburst from the crowd, Scanlan said,” It’s great to be on campuses, even when there are some people who do n’t want me here.” ” That’s okay. You do n’t need to like everyone you encounter. I do n’t need you to agree with everything I say. However, I do have a right to say it.
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Scanlan details college athletic experience
Scanlan claims that one of her coaches first revealed that Thomas would join the Penn swim team in the fall of 2019. She said there was” no discussion”, and despite her teammates ‘ “objections”, Thomas joined the team. Scanlan claimed that Thomas changed in the same locker room as the other Penn teammates.
Scanlan said the experience made her and her teammates “uncomfortable”, calling Thomas, who identifies as a transgender woman, a “man” on several occasions.
” It’s very uncomfortable for female athletes, especially swimmers to be changing in locker rooms with men”, Scanlan said. ” If you guys do n’t know anything about swimming, racing suits in swimming take 20 to 30 minutes to get on. …And it is a very long, prolonged, vulnerable experience where you are completely naked and to introduce men into that situation is unacceptable”.
Scanlan claimed that Thomas was changing in the women’s locker room, so one of her teammates decided to change in a single-use restroom. At the NCAA championships, Scanlan said one of her friends chose to change in a janitor’s closet instead of near Thomas.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Thomas won the first transgender athlete to win a Division I championship in 2022.
Scanlan said that she and some of her teammates felt” completely silenced” during the season. She claimed that her coaches “less and less” addressed the concerns.
Scanlan claims that she wrote an opinion piece against Thomas for Penn’s student newspaper, which she claimed was later removed from print.
” At every single stage, somebody did something to make us quiet”, Scanlan said. ” Whether it was sending in administrators, whether it was pulling my op- ed, it was clear that there was no room for discussion”.
Scanlan argued that the physical differences that set men and women apart — height differences, bone density disparities, lung size, hip- width — “do n’t make men better people than women”, but the physical differences “do make them physically different than women”, emphasizing the title of her lecture−” Men Do n’t Belong in Women’s Sports”.
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Opposition peppered Scanlan with questions, accusations
Multiple crowd members on Monday night questioned Scanlan about her views of trans people and why she had “become such a proponent” of what they each called “anti-trans” legislation.
Scanlan repeatedly denied the claims, saying instead that she supported” separate spaces” —including bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams—for women and that her activism was staunchly “pro- women”.
A small group in the crowd repeatedly yelled out in opposition to Scanlan’s assertions, first correcting her when she used the term “he” or “him” in the Q&, A when she raised genetics and redirected a question about suicide rates in the trans community.
Ryan Hansen covers crime and local government for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached atrhansen@press- citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
