The CEO of Concerned Women for America has been locked out of her Twitter account after referring to transgender female swimmer Lia Thomas as a "man" in a tweet, the organization told TheBlaze.
Penny Nance's March 24 tweet read, "Another woman displaced by a man" and then quoted the headline from a story TheBlaze published the same day: "Swimmer who tied Lia Thomas in 200-yard freestyle says officials cheated her on podium: 'We just want Lia to hold the fifth-place trophy.'"
Concerned Women for America told TheBlaze that Twitter locked Nance's account almost a month later — April 23 — for "hateful content," and that it's still locked as of Friday. The organization also is waiting on the status of an appeal filed with Twitter over the locked account.
The organization tweeted the following to Twitter in response:
Since when is reporting news considered hateful conduct? @Twitter @PYNance Let\u2019s bring back free speech on social media! @elonmuskpic.twitter.com/utOSto5tRW— Concerned Women for America LAC (@Concerned Women for America LAC) 1650726034
Nance offered the following statement to TheBlaze:
Truth is powerful. My twitter account was suspended for making a factually true statement: ‘Another woman displaced by a man’ along with [TheBlaze] headline, “Swimmer who tied Lia Thomas in 200-yard freestyle says officials cheated her on podium: 'We just want Lia to hold the fifth-place trophy.’” I was told by Twitter that this was ‘hateful speech,’ and the only way I could get reinstated onto the platform was to delete my tweet and admit wrong. I won’t do it. I’m not going to pretend that reality is not true. A young woman athlete was displaced from the trophy podium because the NCAA wanted a picture of a man, who wants to be a woman, holding the trophy. CWA will continue to fight for female athletes, and I am thankful Elon Musk, an avid supporter of free speech, will be taking over the platform, and [CWA will] join him in the idea that more voices and more speech is better. Hopefully, he will let me out of Twitter jail soon.
TheBlaze on Friday asked Twitter to identify what is specifically "hateful" about Nance's tweet, but the social media giant did not immediately respond.
TheBlaze story in question focuses on swimmer Riley Gaines who tied Thomas for fifth place in the women's 200-yard freestyle finals at the NCAA championships in late March.
The University of Kentucky senior, speaking to the Daily Wire, said that after the race, she ventured behind the podium where NCAA officials were distributing trophies and that a man in an NCAA shirt told her, “Hey, I just want to let you know, we only have one fifth-place trophy, so yours will be coming in the mail. We went ahead and gave the fifth-place trophy to Lia, but you can pose on the podium with the sixth-place trophy.”
The official added to Gaines that "we just want Lia to hold the fifth-place trophy,” after which Gaines replied, "I don’t think that’s that’s right, and I don’t think that’s fair. There’s no dispute that only one of us can hold the trophy, but I think given the circumstances, you’re just trying to save face a little bit."
With that, Gaines stood on the podium next to a biological man who identifies as a woman — and who took center stage from yet another biological female athlete.
