Lia Thomas, the first transgender woman who has earned a national title in Division 1 athletics, was nominated by the University of Pennsylvania for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award. The former University of Pennsylvania swimmer has been the center of national debate about transgender athletes in sports.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established to honor senior female student-athletes who demonstrate excelling performances in academics, athletics and community services at college.

In March, Thomas, joined the women’s swimming team after competing against men for three years, became the first transgender woman to have a national title in Division 1. She finished the 500-yard freestyle event in the fastest time recorded in the NCAA season. 

However, such attention-drawing performances also brought Thomas to the heated debate over whether transgender women should compete with cisgender women.

In February, sixteen of Thomas’ teammates wrote an unsigned letter to Penn and Ivy League officials, and pointed out that Thomas held biologically “unfair advantages.” 

In March, conservative Christian organization Concerned Women for American (CWA) filed a lawsuit against University of Pennsylvania, stating by allowing Thomas to compete UPenn failed to protect the rights of other college female athletes.

“The future of women’s sports is at risk and the equal rights of female athletes are being infringed,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, in a CWA statement.  

“Any school that defies federal civil rights law by denying women equal opportunities in athletic programs, forcing women to compete against athletes who are biologically male must be held accountable.”

Last month, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) approved the new policy to bar transgender athletes from competitions consistent with their gender identity, unless they can prove that “they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later.”

Similarly, USA Swimming, the national governing body for competitive swimming, adopted a more restrictive policy requiring transgender women to prove that the concentration of testosterone in their blood was less than 5 nanomoles per liter for 36 consecutive months or more. 

The NCAA is currently reviewing the new policy but hasn’t adopted it yet.

In total 18 states have enacted laws banning transgender athletes from sports consistent with their gender identity, and around 30% transgender athletes are accordingly affected.