Coconino News

In a July 12 Twitter post, U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) expressed her disappointment regarding the inadequate protection provided for young girls in light of a recent incident. The incident involved a 16-year-old girl who was expelled from her swim team in Springfield, Ill., for raising objections to the presence of naked biological males in the locker room.

"Keeping young athletes safe should be the TOP priority of coaches, NOT radical gender ideology," Lesko said in the tweet. "My heart goes out to this poor girl and her family. Something must be done. It’s time to start protecting our girls."

The incident took place in April in Springfield, according to a recent Breakthrough Ideas report.

The incident regarding the Springfield YMCA Typhoons Swim Team involved the coexistence of transgender females and underage biological females in the same locker room, which raised discomfort among certain team members, the Breakthrough report said. Concerns expressed by parents were disregarded by the swim team coach and other staff, who argued that it would be discriminatory to deny access. In response, some of the girls hung signs on the locker room doors stating messages such as "Biological Women only" and "Women's Rights," which upset the coach. When one girl admitted to hanging the signs, she was accused of hate speech and subsequently banned from the team.

"The coach (Alex Totura), the YMCA admin (Angie Sowle), and everyone else who told these girls their innate feeling of discomfort when undressing next to someone with male parts is really just 'transphobia' need to be held accountable," Riley Gaines, a former swimmer for the University of Kentucky, said in a recent tweet.

After securing a tie with transgender woman Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 2022 Women's Swimming National Championships, Gaines has taken on the role of an activist for women in sports, advocating for their protection against having to compete with transgender women in women's sports; a recent FOX News report said.

"This is insane," women's sports advocate Paula Scanlan said in a recent Twitter post. "Women and girls are banned from their own spaces for opposing men being in them. If even one girl is banned for voicing her opinion it’s happening too much."