Paula Scanlan, a former member of the female swim team at the University of Pennsylvania, recently shared on X that she was at the signing.
"I was just re-looking at the photos, and I started tearing up a little bit, because genuinely, this experience of speaking out against having this whole thing happen to me has been really wild," she said.
Scanlan, a sexual assault survivor, recalls being "gaslit" by her university when she and others spoke against sharing their locker room with William Thomas, who had been allowed to switch from the men's team to theirs as "Lia." The NCAA "did nothing to stand up for us," Scanlan added.
"On this journey of speaking out, I have made so many wonderful friends, and so many of them were there with me in that photo," said Scanlan. "I also lost a lot of friends when I chose to speak out."
Though it was difficult, she knows it was right to take a stand.
"To any of the friends that I've lost because I did that, well, they weren't really my friends to begin with," said Scanlan. "So, to all of you going through anything you might be going through, stand up for what you believe in, because it will be worth it."
Pointing to a picture of herself and others in the White House, Scanlan said, "Who knows – maybe you'll get something like this that you can hang in your living room."
Noting that "many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women's sports" in recent years, President Trump's order calls that "demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls" and says it "denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports."
