New: Image of Trans Swimmer 'Lia Thomas' Getting Honored With 'Inspiration' Award Pretty Much Says It All

By Becca Lower | 8:36 PM on October 17, 2025

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

There's been slow but sure movement in recent months toward a restoration of sanity when it comes to the subject of (usually) male-identifying transgender athletes taking part in girls' and women's sports - not only from the efforts of civil rights warriors like Assistant AG Harmeet Dhillon in the 47 Justice Department, but every day Americans speaking out against what are clearly injustices in action in public school across the country. As RedState has reported, one of the areas with egregious infractions of Title IX is Southern California.

Readers likely remember former University of Pennsylvania swimmer "Lia Thomas," who was born Will Thomas, and was awarded medals and other opportunities that should have gone to women. Over the summer, some of those wrongs were corrected, as UPenn stripped Thomas of all of the collegiate titles he earned.

'Disgusting’: Parents Speak Out About Daughters Having to Compete Against Boys at CA State Championship

Now, several SoCal pro sports organizations just sponsored a farcical award that was given to Thomas by an LGBTQ+ group during the Rainbow Labs "Violet Visionary Awards." He received their "Voice of Inspiration Award" on Thursday night. Our pals at OutKick were first to report on this, and they deserve our kudos for keeping an eye on the ball (pardon the pun).

At the Rainbow Labs "Violet Visionary Awards," on Thursday night, Thomas will be presented with the "Voice of Inspiration Award." Per the event website, this honor is given to "…an individual whose story and actions ignite hope and courage within the LGBTQ+ community."
...
Prominently mentioned as sponsors of the "Violet Visionary Awards" are two of LA's biggest sports teams, the Dodgers and LA Football Club. Presumably, they would understand that men have physical strength advantages over women, since neither of their teams or organizations have female athletes playing for them.
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It's unclear what precisely Thomas did to "ignite hope and courage."

Riley Gaines spoke exclusively with Outkick about the news, and offered some suggestions on that mystery, while questioning the bestowing of the title "voice of inspiration" on someone like Thomas.

"The only people Will Thomas inspires are other men who realized you can take everything from women - our records, our spaces, our opportunities - and still get a standing ovation," she said. "It’s 2025, not 2020. We’re done pretending that’s courage."

Another vocal supporter of restoring the rights of women and girls in sports, Jennifer Sey, the founder & CEO of XX-XY Athletics, posted an image from the event, calling it "an absolute joke."

The striking image pretty much says it all:

Will Thomas won the Voice of Inspiration Award last night at the 2025 Violet Visionary Awards, an event sponsored by the LA Dodgers.

Just an absolute joke we're still doing this. pic.twitter.com/PAhr7LJI7t
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) October 17, 2025

And not to be outdone, conservative radio commentator Clay Travis pointed out the obvious:

The giant man in the middle in a dress was labeled a hero of women’s sports by @espn. pic.twitter.com/hA0wa1NzoB
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 17, 2025

While we have seen some encouraging and positive changes - whether it's from American businesses putting aside trying to bow down to activists on the Left, or public schools scaling back on men in women's and girls' sports - the lingering of the issue continues in some quarters, unfortunately.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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