Married At First Sight star Hayley Vernon has welcomed the recent ban on a competitive trans swimmer taking part in the women’s Olympic race.
Transgender athlete Lia Thomas’ demand to be allowed to compete against women at the Olympics has been dealt a fatal blow after she lost a crucial lawsuit.
Now Hayley, 37, took to Instagram on Thursday to celebrate Lia’s exclusion from the competition and said the ban was a “step in the right direction”.
Posting an article to her Stories announcing Lia’s loss in the lawsuit, the former adult content creator wrote, “This is a step in the right direction for women in sports!”
Lia had asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the ban on biological men competing against women in the hopes of competing in the Games.
Married At First Sight star Hayley Vernon, 37, (pictured) has welcomed the recent ban on a competitive trans swimmer taking part in the women’s Olympic race.
She first rose to prominence after becoming the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA college title in 2022 and has since been banned from competing against biological women in international events following a change in regulations.
World Aquatics changed its policies so that transgender women can only compete in women’s races if they have completed their transition before the age of 12.
Lia argued that those rules should be declared “invalid and illegal”, and violated the Olympic charter and the world aquatics convention.
Transgender athlete Lia Thomas, 25 (pictured),’s demand to be allowed to compete against women at the Olympics has been dealt a fatal blow after losing a crucial lawsuit.
Now, Hayley took to Instagram on Thursday to celebrate Lia’s exclusion from the competition, saying the ban was a “step in the right direction.”
In a decision handed down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, they concluded that Lia was “not entitled to participate in eligibility to compete in WA competitions”.
World Aquatics welcomed the news, calling it a “major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sport.”
The group told the outlet: “World Aquatics is dedicated to fostering an environment that promotes fairness, respect and equal opportunity for athletes of all genders and we reaffirm this commitment.”
Lia had asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the ban on biological men competing against women in hopes of competing in the Games, but was denied.
They introduced their new rules after Lia beat Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant by 1.75 seconds to win NCAA gold.
In a scientific paper supporting its ban for those who “have gone through any part of male puberty”, WA said swimmers like Lia retained their physical advantages.
They said such advantages included endurance, power, speed, strength and lung size, even after lowering their testosterone levels through medication.
On Wednesday, the court ruled that Lia did not have standing to sue over the transgender policy.