Lia Thomas Speaks Out on Being the First Transgender Athlete to Win an NCAA Division One Championship

[00:00] [Music]

[00:04] uh have you heard the name leah thomas

[00:06] thomas a transgender athlete presence

[00:08] has been a big source of controversy

[00:10] we've seen split support

[00:12] what has it been like to be leah

[00:15] it's

[00:17] been

[00:18] a very very interesting experience at

[00:20] times there's been a lot of noise

[00:23] but it's

[00:24] been incredibly rewarding and meaningful

[00:27] to

[00:29] be able to be

[00:31] authentic and

[00:32] to be myself and be out and and proud as

[00:36] a trans woman

[00:37] [Music]

[00:42] leah thomas pulling away over the final

[00:44] 150 meters

[00:48] thomas wins the ncaa championship

[00:52] how does it make you feel when you think

[00:54] about the fact that you're the first

[00:57] transgender person to ever win an ncaa

[00:59] division one championship

[01:01] i'm very humbled and honored to

[01:05] to hold that title um

[01:08] and i can

[01:10] only hope that i'm

[01:11] able to give other

[01:13] trans people the inspiration and

[01:16] motivation i was given

[01:19] what do you think is the biggest

[01:20] misconception people have about you

[01:22] specifically

[01:23] um

[01:24] the biggest misconception i think is

[01:27] the reason why i transitioned where

[01:29] people will say oh she just transitioned

[01:32] so she would have an advantage so she

[01:34] could win i transitioned to be happy

[01:38] to be

[01:38] true to myself

[01:42] it was a very difficult time

[01:44] i was just stuck in this

[01:46] depression and

[01:48] i struggled with uh suicidal thoughts um

[01:51] being trans is is not a choice i didn't

[01:54] have any other choice because

[01:58] not transitioning was not leading me

[02:00] anywhere

[02:03] [Music]

[02:08] what are some of the changes that you

[02:10] experienced

[02:12] i started

[02:13] hormone replacement therapy in

[02:16] may of 2019.

[02:19] one of the biggest was

[02:21] loss of muscle mass

[02:25] i had a lot of fat redistribution change

[02:27] sort of how my body

[02:29] looks and the shape

[02:31] i

[02:32] shrunk actually

[02:34] probably about an inch um in height my

[02:37] feet got smaller

[02:39] um i'm about half a true size or a full

[02:42] to a full shoe size smaller now

[02:44] um and so it really does change your

[02:47] entire body

[02:51] what reaction do you have

[02:54] toward other folks who feel that you

[02:56] shouldn't

[02:58] be able to compete

[03:01] trans women competing

[03:03] in women's sports

[03:05] does not threaten women's sports as a

[03:07] whole

[03:08] because

[03:09] trans women are a very small minority of

[03:12] all athletes and the ncaa rules

[03:14] regarding

[03:16] trans women competing in women's sports

[03:18] have been

[03:19] around for for 10 plus years um

[03:23] and

[03:24] and we haven't seen any

[03:26] massive uh wave of trans women

[03:28] dominating

[03:31] you know through this experience for you

[03:34] what's been

[03:35] some of

[03:36] your toughest moments

[03:41] so

[03:42] one of the toughest moments was um

[03:45] when i first came out um

[03:48] to coaches into my team where

[03:52] i had i had no idea how

[03:55] how they would react whether they would

[03:56] accept me or not um and what the the

[03:59] final outcome would be it was

[04:01] it was sort of a leap of faith i had to

[04:02] take to

[04:04] to continue swimming

[04:08] i was very lucky

[04:09] to have supportive coaches and teammates

[04:12] and i went into

[04:16] my swimming career after that

[04:19] sort of not knowing what would happen i

[04:21] didn't know

[04:24] how fast i would be

[04:28] when you found out that a number of your

[04:31] teammates had

[04:32] anonymously signed a letter criticizing

[04:35] your participation how did that make you

[04:37] feel

[04:38] i knew there were some people who didn't

[04:39] support me

[04:40] um on a big team not not everybody is

[04:44] best friends with everybody and i had my

[04:47] close group of friends and

[04:49] as a more private person that's that's

[04:51] all i needed was my immediate friends

[04:54] i respect everybody on my team um

[04:57] we all

[04:58] go through

[04:59] um

[05:01] 20 hours of grueling work a week um and

[05:03] are all committed to the sport and i

[05:05] won't i won't

[05:06] harsh on anybody for that

[05:10] on the record board in sharepool

[05:14] you still hold a pool record

[05:16] in your previous name

[05:18] you look at that board and you see that

[05:20] name

[05:20] how do you feel about that

[05:22] i

[05:24] in a sense i almost think of it as

[05:27] a different person um

[05:30] where

[05:32] it's sort of an interesting

[05:34] compartmentalization i have of my life

[05:37] um pre-transition where

[05:39] it is me and i'm the same person

[05:41] throughout but in a sense it's it's like

[05:44] it's a different person um

[05:46] and

[05:47] since

[05:48] coming out and transitioning i've sort

[05:50] of rebuilt myself and who i am so

[05:55] i just think of it as as a different

[05:57] person almost

[06:02] i asked you about your toughest moment

[06:03] but what's been the best moment

[06:06] my best moment is

[06:09] feeling at peace with with who i am and

[06:13] it's

[06:14] coming home

[06:16] for from a long day of school and

[06:18] swimming

[06:19] and

[06:20] relaxing and not

[06:22] worrying about

[06:24] how people react and not feeling the

[06:26] distress from gender dysphoria and just

[06:29] feeling at peace with who i am

[06:34] when you think of all you have endured

[06:37] in and out of the pool

[06:39] was it worth it

[06:42] i i think so i i would say yes

[06:45] i've been able to

[06:48] do the sport that i love as my authentic

[06:51] self