American TV anchor blows up as transgender swimmer honoured

There has been uproar over a TV feature that singled out a transgender swimmer during “Women’s History Month”.

American news anchor Megyn Kelly has blasted sport network ESPN for honouring transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

The University of Pennsylvania athlete is being celebrated by the sport broadcasting giant as part of its feature series marking Women’s History Month.

Kelly, however, has torched the accolades Thomas has been receiving, as reported by The New York Post.

“Oh HELL NO!” the former Fox News prime time star tweeted in response to a video clip showing Thomas, who was born male before transitioning to become a woman, being feted on ESPN.

Kelly echoed the sentiments of former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who tweeted: “Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title.”

“He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman,” Gaines tweeted.

“If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out,” Gaines tweeted, calling the Disney-owned network “spineless.”

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas accepts the winning trophy for the 500 Freestyle finals. Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

Gaines was referencing last year’s 500-yard freestyle competition in the NCAA championships which the 6-foot-1 Thomas, a fifth-year senior, won by beating out the runner-up by close to two seconds.

Thomas was a men’s swimmer during the first three years of her collegiate career at UPenn.

She became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship.

But her dominant performance against other women prompted protests over what many saw as an unfair advantage she had due to her being born a biological male.

Lia Thomas competing at college level. Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images.

Riley Gaines competing at NCAA level. Photo: Instagram, @rileygbarker.

The Post has sought comment from ESPN. Thomas was not immediately available to respond.

Last month, Gaines, a 23-year-old 12-time All-American and five-time SEC champion swimmer at the University of Kentucky, said she and other teammates were forced to share a locker room with Thomas, where they were exposed to her “male genitalia.”

“We were not forewarned beforehand that we would be sharing a locker room with Lia,” Gaines said.

“We did not give our consent, they did not ask for our consent, but in that locker room we turned around and there’s a 6-foot-4 biological man dropping his pants and watching us undress, and we were exposed to male genitalia.”

Megyn Kelly and Lia Thomas. Photo: Supplied.

Last spring, Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth place in a national swimming competition. She blasted her opponent’s “unfair” advantage, saying that Thomas’ height, muscle mass, and heart and lung size gave her a leg up on her competitors.

Thomas has denied that she has an unfair competitive advantage due to her gender of birth.

“Trans women are not a threat to women’s sports,” Thomas told “Good Morning America” in May. “Trans people don’t transition for athletics. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves.

“Transitioning to get an advantage is not something that ever factors into our decisions,” she added.

— This story originally appeared on nypost.com and has been republished with permission