Former Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson has slammed the National Organization for Women (NOW) in a Title IX lawsuit filed by a group of former female athletes, calling it “white supremacy patriarchy at work.”
In an interview with Fox New Digital, Thompson shot back at women’s rights groups after they tweeted a statement condemning white supremacy.
“Let me repeat this: Weaponizing womanhood against other women is white supremacy patriarchy at work,” the post reads. “It’s the white supremacist patriarchy at work that makes people believe there isn’t enough room for trans women in sports.”
Please repeat after us. It is white supremacist patriarchy at work that weaponizes women’s rights against other women. It is the white supremacist patriarchy that makes people believe there is not enough room for trans women in sports. https://t.co/SacFuIgpPd
— National NOW (@NationalNOW) March 31, 2024
Riley Gaines and other female athletes are suing the NCAA for violating their Title IX rights by allowing transgender swimmer Leah Thomas to compete and use changing facilities.
“All of these accusations are an attempt to silence women,” Thompson said of the NOW post. “When you get to the root cause of this problem, we’re none of those things. We’re none of those things. It’s just women asking for gender rights.”
Thomas won the Division I freestyle event at the 2022 NCAA Championships. He also tied Gaines in the 200m, but Thomas was awarded the trophy despite the tie.
Still, Thompson believes there’s more to transgender infiltration in women’s sports than just trophies and medals.
Inga Thompson, ranked 49th on the American team, speaks to a television reporter after the women’s road race at Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, near Barcelona, on July 26, 1992, during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. (David Madison/Getty Images)
“It has a deeper meaning than just a medal,” Thompson explained. “Women’s opportunities are being taken away. And we still don’t have 50% of the opportunities. Men still have far more opportunities in sports than women. And the opportunities given to us… They want one of the few opportunities they have.”
Since Thomas won the NCAA Tournament, sports governing bodies around the world have been grappling with how to accommodate trans athletes. When it comes to the Olympics, which Thompson competed in in 1984, 1988 and 1992, the former cyclist said the IOC would allow each sport to decide its own rules for allowing transgender athletes to participate. We believe that the policy is ineffective.
“They basically said inclusion is more important than equity, and they made decisions based on the idea that inclusion is more important than equity for women,” she said. “I think everyone is looking to the leadership at the top of the IOC. But the IOC has proven that it does not have leadership when it comes to the safety and protection of women in sport.
We need to be able to discuss biological reality, we need to know the truth, and words need to have meaning. And they are trying to take away the word woman from us. ”
