This is what Matt Walsh said about Lia Thomas right before the swimmer won a national title

Over 300 people piled into a packed room at Georgia Institute of Technology’s (Georgia Tech) Instructional Center to hear the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh deliver his speech on why men do not belong in women’s sports. Walsh was welcomed by thunderous applause, with support far outnumbering organized protests outside the venue. 

The university’s Turning Point USA chapter and the Leadership Institute, the parent organization of Campus Reform, hosted the Monday night event. 

Walsh opened the event by taking aim at UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who is competing against biological women in the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming Championship this week.

Walsh opened accordingly, directly stating, “Lia Thomas is a man.”

”He is other things as well, including a narcissist and a bully, for example,” Walsh pressed, “but the most important thing to establish here, our premises today, is he is a man. He is a he.”

That declaration came three days before Thomas went on to win the 500-yard freestyle. Sports Illustrated reports that with Thursday’s win, Thomas is “the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship.”

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Walsh stressed that he was not there to talk women’s sports. Rather, the core message of his speech was centered around obtaining and preaching “truth.”

According to Walsh, women’s swimming is only “one battleground in the war for truth.”

”I am not [a] fan of women’s college swimming,” Walsh stated. “I am a fan of truth, and justice, and common sense.”

Accordingly, Walsh took a deep dive into the importance of language, explaining how language that ‘reaffirms’ gender identity is not grammatically correct. Rather, preferred language to push a progressive narrative creates ambiguity within language, according to the Daily Wire host.

”It would also be incorrect to say ‘they’ are standing on the stage as that indicated that more than one person, and I am just one person,” he said. 

Walsh also discussed neopronouns ze/zir, but acknowledged that their use implies “I would be some sort of space alien.”

On Thursday, the university’s student government association put out a statement in support of transgender athletes and individuals while also condemning Walsh’s speech on Lia Thomas. 

”Lia and all other trans and non-binary athletes should be able to compete and live without fear of discrimination,” the statement read. “As campus leaders, we want to use our platform and honor our commitment to publicly denouncing hate and discrimination on campus.” 

Campus Reform has previously covered attempts by the left to modernize language to increase inclusivity among the campus community. Recently, this practice has expanded from using gender-neutral language or politically sensitive words to mandating the use of preferred pronouns.

In the past semester, students at Columbia University and Point Park University (PPU) learned that consequences may be enforced if a student is caught ‘misgendering’ others. Both universities maintained that abiding by preferred names and pronouns is protected under non-discrimination policies. 

But, consequences for students who refuse to abide by adapted language go beyond academic limits. One student who spoke out against PPU’s policy on Fox News was met with hostility from peers and a petition circulated to call for his expulsion.

Professors are also pushing for adapted language in the classroom. 

In January, Campus Reform reported on a professor boasting that “they/them” pronouns would be used for any student that did not announce their preferred pronouns. 

Walsh rebuked the concept of mandating acceptance of gender ideology, stating that while he may believe he is “handsome and intelligent,” he cannot require “everyone who speaks about me to have the same perception.”

Walsh acknowledged that using incorrect language and preferred pronouns may provide respect or put best intentions forward, but said that in practice preferred pronouns maintain the notion that the root of the issue is that using wrong pronouns is a lie.

”Our cultural elites have decided, for ideological reasons, we ought to be using different words,” Walsh said. However, in his account, this is not a “natural evolution of language,” but an “intentional manipulation of language.”

In doing so, Walsh provided answers to his infamous question, “what is a woman” by breaking down the scientific and biological differences between men and women.

When it comes to the leftist position of gender ideology, Walsh argued that supporters never provide any evidence to back up their claims.

”They themselves don’t know what they mean by the word,” he claimed.

[RELATED: VIDEO: Do students think the NCAA Is protecting women’s sports?]

Prior to the event, Campus Reform took to the quad on Georgia Tech’s campus to ask students the same question. However, not one respondent could define a woman without using subjective measures.

”It’s whatever the person defines themself as because there is no set standard because nobody is the same as another person,” one student told Campus Reform. “There’s a whole bunch of different ways you can define a woman.”

However, according to Walsh, the difference is clear beyond the breakdown of chromosomes and the ability to reproduce.

”Lia Thomas, like every other male, is male down to his bones, down to his cells, down to his DNA,” Walsh explained. “When he dies and is buried under a giant monument celebrating him as history’s greatest female athlete, 100 years from now he would be excavated and his bones analyzed, and scientists would be very confused to discover that the greatest female athlete was a dude.”

According to Walsh, biological men possess 80% more muscle mass on average, have larger lungs, and possess greater testosterone, all of which provide a biological advantage in competitive sports.

Thus, Walsh attributes these differences to why the fastest and strongest records among men are still faster and strongest than women’s records.

”In 2017, a group of 15-year-old boys discriminated against the US Women’s National Soccer Team and beat them 5-2,” Walsh recounted.

The matchup refers to a scrimmage between the national team and the FC Dallas U-15 squad in 2017 in preparation for an upcoming friendly against Russia.

The event concluded with a question-and-answer section that prompted Walsh to direct the conversation of women’s sports more head-on, including a call to action for women athletes to stand up and protect women’s sports.

Campus Reform contacted Georgia Tech, TPUSA, and Walsh for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

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