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2022 NCAA women’s swimming champion Lia Thomas, who is transgender, will receive the Voice of Inspiration award at Rainbow Labs’ Violet Visionary Awards on Thursday.
Thomas’ national title sparked a national backlash and is considered one of the catalysts in the battle over the participation of transgender athletes in women’s and girls’ sports.
The award “honors an individual whose story and actions ignite hope and courage within the LGBTQ+ community,” according to the Rainbow Labs website.
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Penn Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas prepares for the 100 freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech. (Brett Davis/USA Today Sports)
The annual event “honors people and organizations that embody the spirit of empowerment, resilience, and joy. We will elevate the power of LGBTQIA+ expression—in fashion, art, dance, voice, and history—as a revolutionary force that fuels queer joy and collective freedom,” the site says, adding that “[celebrate] “LGBTQIA+ leaders, mentors and changemakers who are lighting the way for the next generation.”
Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas and tied with the former UPenn swimmer at the national tournament, was not happy.

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for fifth in the 200 freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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“Voice of inspiration? The only people Will Thomas inspires are other men who realized that you can take everything from women — our records, our spaces, our opportunities — and still get a standing ovation,” Gaines told OutKick, using Thomas’s birth name. “We’re in 2025, not 2020. We’re done pretending that’s bravery.”
OutKick first reported on Thomas’ recognition at the event.
The event is sponsored by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Football Club, among others. Both clubs did not respond to a request from OutKick about whether Thomas should be honored as a “voice of inspiration.”
The Dodgers previously honored the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of anti-Catholic drag “nuns,” with their Community Hero Award on Pride Night in 2023. Their original invitation was rescinded after backlash from fans and players, but they were reinvited and the team apologized.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are recognized before the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on June 16, 2023 in Los Angeles. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Twenty-nine states have regulations regarding trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning trans athletes from competing against women in February.