Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan said it's a positive sign to see people push back against biological males such as her former teammate Lia Thomas in female sports. .“I think there are people willing to speak about it,” said Scanlan in an interview with Daily Wire host Matt Walsh. .“I don’t think there’s enough.” .The video starts off with Scanlan saying she's a strong believer in free speech. She acknowledged she is half Taiwanese, and her grandfather was the person who fought for free speech in Taiwan. .Her grandfather worked with people in the two parties to bring about free speech. He had friends who he would have heated arguments because they disagreed so much, but they were open to debating. .Scanlan went on to say the United States is “built off of arguments and discussions and free speech.” She added the US does not have that anymore. .While it is scary for biological males to compete among females, she said it is “even scarier that we can’t even have a discussion about it.” .Walsh said pushback against transgender athletes has been increasing in the past year. .“Now you’re coming out,” said Walsh. .“What do you make of what seems to be the momentum gathering around the pushback against all of this?” .When former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines started speaking out, Scanlan said she reached out and became friends. While there are people who will never change their minds, she is going to try to convince who she can. .She said there is hope. Certain states have passed fairness for women’s sports acts. .Some sports governing bodies announced restrictions on transgender athletes. Scanlan said she does not think she is done. .“I’m here to fight until we have every single state in the United States and every country in the world also believes this,” she said. .Swimming’s world governing body, the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), voted in 2022 to restrict transgender athletes from competing against women. .READ MORE: FINA votes to ban transgender swimmer Lia Thomas from competing against women.The vote — which was 71.5% in favour of the new policy — took place after FINA heard speeches from representatives of a working group set up in 2021. This working group consisted of three specialist groups — an athlete group, a science and medicine group, and a legal and human rights group..After analyzing the conclusions of these groups, FINA developed a new policy which will apply at all events. The policy will be followed for world record ratification, wherever the competition takes place.
