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The Roanoke College women's swim team made national headlines last year when some swimmers and their families publicly objected to a trans woman who explored joining the team.
At a rally in Virginia on Saturday, former President Donald Trump welcomed onstage seven members of a college women’s swim team who publicly objected last year about the potential addition of a trans team member.
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All seven wore pink shirts with white lettering reading ‘Keep [image of a hot dog] out of women’s sports.”
The young women were members of the Roanoke College 2023 women’s swim team when a trans female asked if she could join the squad. The unnamed swimmer had previously been a member of the school’s men’s swim team. After taking a year away from sports, she sought to return to competitive swimming as a woman. She ultimately withdrew her request, but several teammates and their families went public with the story.
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Trump disparaged the transgender community before welcoming the seven athletes onstage. He said, "Last year, the radical left’s gender insanity arrived right here in Salem when," the trans woman transferred to the college and looked into joining the team. He then welcomed the seven athletes onstage.
“The brave members of the swim team stood up to the transgender fanatics,” Trump said. ”Something new in our country.”
Team captain Lilly Mullens stepped to the microphone and delivered prepared remarks.
“As female athletes especially, we know that men have an inherent advantage over women in sports. And due to current policies, though, men are competing against women of all ages in all sports,” Mullens said. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have advocated for, they’ve advocated for, and pushed for this anti-woman, sex-based discrimination to continue all over this country. And point blank, it’s unfair.”
That trans women have an unfair advantage is disputed by activists and scientists. One of the latest studies, funded by the International Olympic Committee and conducted at the University of Brighton in England, suggests that trans women are less like cisgender men than generally believed.
Trans women in the study, published in April in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, had greater handgrip strength than cis women, but they had lesser jumping ability than both cis women and cis men, plus lower lung function and cardiovascular fitness than cis women.
“While longitudinal transitioning studies of transgender athletes are urgently needed, these results should caution against precautionary bans and sport eligibility exclusions that are not based on sport-specific (or sport-relevant) research,” the study concluded.
The IOC lets the governing body for each sport determine whether trans athletes can compete. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has a similar policy. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, which represents small colleges and universities, has barred transgender women from participating in women’s sports. Twenty-five states have laws or policies restricting trans students’ participation in public school sports, with some of the laws also applying to colleges and universities and, to some degree, to private schools.
Mullens thanked Trump for “standing with women and promising to protect the rights of all of us.”
“We are so lucky to have a leader like Donald Trump, with common sense who knows what a strong woman is and will fight for generations of girls to come,” Mullens concluded.
“What a good job. Thank you, Lilly.”
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The appearance of the team members at a Trump rally caused consternation in the local community. Roanoke College President Frank Shushok issued a statement saying the students were expressing personal points of view and noting the school encouraged a diversity of individual expression.
“Our students, including those with diverse political perspectives and those with LGBTQ+ identities, are gifts to our community and are deeply valued.” Shushok said in the statement. “In this moment, we can turn against each other and ignite division, thereby adding to the bounty of suffering already too prevalent in our world. However, in my time at Roanoke College, I’ve been inspired by what I’ve seen repeatedly: People who take the road less traveled and aspire to the highest virtues of love, humility, respect, and kindness.”
