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American transgender swimmer Lia Thomas was slammed online after a picture of her wearing an "Antifa Super Soldier" top went viral. A Twitter user named @MrAndyNgo took to the platform on July 17, 2023, to share an Instagram story screenshot where the 24-year-old personality can be seen waving a peace sign and smiling while donning the controversial shirt.
Captioning the picture, the user suggested that Thomas embraced "the #Trantifa," and added that the current focus of Antifa is "trans-violent militancy."
The Instagram account from where the photo was allegedly taken is a private account. The relationship between Lia Thomas and the person is also unknown.
According to Dictionary.com, Antifa is a political movement made up of left-wing activists who are against Nazi authority, capitalism, and extreme right-wing ideas like nationalism, racism, and white supremacy. Lia Thomas' alleged t-shirt did not sit right with several netizens, and one of them slammed her, stating:
Twitter reacts to Lia Thomas' controversial shirt
After the picture of Lia Thomas wearing an "Antifa Super Soldier" shirt taken from a private Instagram handle went viral, Twitterati was furious. Several users slammed the swimmer, misgendered her, and blamed her for propagating extremist views.
Others were shocked to see Thomas wearing this controversial shirt, claiming they did not expect her to do this.
Thomas initially made headlines in 2021, when she, as a transgender sportsperson, easily defeated rival college swimmers. It sparked a controversy regarding whether transgender swimmers, like Thomas, should be permitted to compete against cis female competitors.
Since then, the conversation has only grown more heated as swimmers competing against Thomas have expressed displeasure at facing "someone who went through puberty as a male and has the body of a male," as one Virginia Tech swimmer put it in 2022.
While speaking with Sports Illustrated in 2022, Lia Thomas stressed that she deserves the same respect as any other woman, when she was pressed to answer her opinions on her taking a spot from a biological woman on the Penn women's team.
“The very simple answer is that I’m not a man. I’m a woman, so I belong on the women’s team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets.”
As of writing, Lia Thomas has not commented on her viral picture wearing the controversial shirt.
