BREAKING: Penn Bends the Knee, Acknowledges Lia Thomas Was a Man the Whole Time

Holy SMOKES, this is SO FRICKIN’ YUGE I hardly know where to start.

How about at the top?

Penn to ban trans athletes, ending Lia Thomas civil rights case

The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender women from its women’s sports teams to resolve a federal civil rights case that found the school violated the rights of female athletes.

The U.S. Education Department announced the voluntary agreement Tuesday. The case focused on Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022, when she became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title.

It’s part of the Trump administration’s broader attempt to remove transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.

Under the agreement, Penn agreed to restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost out to Thomas, the Education Department said. Penn also agreed to send a personalized apology letter to each of those swimmers.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Thomas would be stripped of her awards and honors at Penn.

The DOE has wrung them out to dry.

What a thing of beauty.

BREAKING:

UPenn will formally apologize for allowing Lia Thomas to compete as a woman.

The tide is turning! pic.twitter.com/Dn9M2WkhKQ

— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) July 1, 2025

What sweet, SCHWEET music this has to be to Riley Gaines for her hard-fought, fearless battle against the forces of transgender evil.

To anyone who mocks Riley Gaines for finishing 5th in the women’s league: Lia Thomas ranked 554th in the men’s league and needed to move to a league with people biologically designed to be weaker to become a champion. pic.twitter.com/HChSQ0l70H

— Patrick Ganley (@Patworx) June 7, 2025

And to preserve the rights of every little girl to dream of being a champion in her own right – not to have it stolen from her by a mediocre man in a dress or a thong.

And it’s so ironic that ESPN broke this story, that Thomas was, after all, a man in the pool swimming against women. When woke ESPN fired their own WOMEN sportscasters who dared to speak up about the injustice along the way.

BREAKING: ESPN has *FIRED* @samponder, who is one of the ONLY women at the network to speak out against biological men playing in women’s sports.

Ponder made headlines in May 2023, when she agreed with swimmer @Riley_Gaines_ speaking out against Lia Thomas participating in… pic.twitter.com/tYOBiu4Zkb

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 15, 2024

…Ponder quote tweeted Gaines and said that it is not “hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls.” 

USA Today columnist Nancy Armour attacked Ponder for her views. She claimed that they reflected “bigotry” and were a “sham.” 

Ponder, who served as the host of ESPN’s NFL Countdown since 2017, responded to Armour’s criticism. 

She tweeted that “biology is not bigotry” and added that “loving people does not require the absence of boundaries.” 

Former ESPN colleague @sagesteele, who has become a vocal advocate for biological integrity in competitive sports, backed Ponder’s views. 

“Pathetic attack on a WOMAN who is simply fighting for other WOMEN in sports,” she clapped back. ” Chooses to lead her emotions vs facts. ‘Follow the science’, right?! When in doubt, just pull the bigot/race card! Comical. Stay strong @samponder .. this is a lonely fight, but it’s worth it!”

ESPN claims Ponder was terminated due to “budget cuts.”

BIOLOGY IS NOT BIGOTRY

And, yes – this is exactly what I voted for.

…In April, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled that the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete on the women’s team. 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said at the time that Penn could face financial consequences if they don’t comply. While Penn is a private school, it received about $1 billion in federal funds in 2024, according to WHYY. 

Unlike the state of Maine, which continues to fight the federal government despite also being found in violation of Title IX, Penn made the appropriate decision to stop allowing males to compete in women’s athletics. 

“Today’s resolution agreement with Penn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the University for future generations of female athletes,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement.

I love that Secretary McMahon didn’t simply allow a climbdown. She called U Penn out for their behavior. 

…”[We wanted] to make sure that it was emphasized that this was wrong and the university didn’t take the right kind of action and to apologize to these women for putting them in situations where they could have been hurt or where they would have lost opportunity or where they might have had their dignity impugned because they had to change in private spaces in front of males… So I think an apology was absolutely warranted,” McMahon said. 

That it wasn’t enough to just reverse course because they could never amend or make up for what they’d done to their female – FEMALE – athletes in the pursuit of their obsession with transgender ideology.

They have chosen wisely.

…”From day one, President Trump and Secretary McMahon made it clear that protecting women and girls is a top priority—and today’s agreement with UPenn is proof of that commitment in action,” Gaines said. 

Gaines, who tied Thomas for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, added that the Penn resolution should send a clear message to colleges and universities across the country. 

“This Administration isn’t just talking about women’s equality, but instead actively defending it. I hope this sends a clear message to educational institutions: you can no longer disregard women’s civil rights. And to every female athlete, know this: your dignity, safety, and fairness matter, and our nation’s leaders will not stop fighting for them.”

.@PaulaYScanlan reacts to news that her university, UPenn, has been forced to protect women’s spaces: “This is, quite literally, what I voted for!” pic.twitter.com/hoUJABdjOv

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) July 1, 2025

All they do is FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT.

And thank God.

Beege ADDS: Right on cue, here come the #sadz and #madz.

Heh.

‘CAVING TO TRUMP DEMANDS’ You frickin’ putzes.

Because he was ALWAYS a MAN in the pool beating the women.

— tree hugging s*ster 🎃 (@WelbornBeege) July 1, 2025

Beege UPDATE: It wouldn’t be fair to leave off Secretary McMahon with the slam from the highwire.

🚨 JUST IN: The University of Pennsylvania will be sending letters of apology to EVERY SINGLE FEMALE ATHLETE who was forced to compete against men, per Education Secretary McMahon

Incredible! 🔥

Justice is being SERVED for these women! pic.twitter.com/ExUP1iGx8n

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 1, 2025