ESPN personality Sam Ponder jumped to Twitter Thursday to praise former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan for her emotional testimony in criticism of allowing men claiming to be women to compete in women’s sports.
Scanlan spoke at Thursday’s meeting of the House Judiciary subcommittee, which was looking at gender-affirming care for minors, and she said of her experiences being forced to compete with and against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas during the 2022 NCAA swim season.
The former swimmer said that the university utterly ignored the women on the swim team’s concerns about Thomas parading around nude in the locker room with his male genitalia in full view and was told that Thomas’ participation on the women’s team was “non-negotiable.”
She also said seeing Thomas in the locker room was extremely uncomfortable for the women, many of whom changed their habits and use of the locker rooms to avoid Thomas. As a victim of sexual assault, it was particularly egregious for her.
All this brought ESPN’s Ponder to praise Scanlan for her bravery.
“Paula you are so brave and your voice is so important,” Ponder tweeted to a video of Scanlan’s testimony.
Paula you are so brave and your voice is so important ❤️💪🏼 @PaulaYScanlan https://t.co/JvQjSv5d5m
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) July 28, 2023
Scanlan soon responded to thank Ponder for her tweet.
“Thank you @samponder It means so much for you to help elevate my voice,” she wrote.
thank you @samponder ❤️It means so much for you to help elevate my voice.
— Paula Scanlan (@PaulaYScanlan) July 28, 2023
Ponder’s fellow ESPN talker, Sage Steele, also tweeted a response to Scanlan’s testimony.
— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) July 28, 2023
Regarding trans athletes, Steele also re-tweeted comments against trans athletes by Rep. Wesley Hunt (R, TX).
Oh my. THIS is the energy we need to #SaveWomensSports
THANK YOU, @WesleyHuntTX https://t.co/sxnGH1s8oB
— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) July 27, 2023
During her testimony, Scanlon blasted the University of Pennsylvania.
“My teammates and I were forced to undress in the presence of Lia, a 6-foot-4 tall biological male, fully intact with male genitalia, 18 times per week. Some girls opted to change in bathroom stalls, and others used the family bathroom to avoid this. When we tried to voice our concerns to the athletic department, we were told that Lia’s swimming and being in our locker room was a non-negotiable, and we were offered psychological services to attempt to re-educate us to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male,” she said.
“To sum up the university’s response, we the women were the problem, not the victims. We were expected to conform, to move over and shut up. Our feelings didn’t matter.”
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