Caitlyn Jenner Says Florida Gov.'s Transphobia Is Just 'Common Sense'

Caitlyn Jenner has stepped into the conversation over University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas's NCAA Division 1 win after Thomas became the first trans athlete in any sport to win the championship last week.

Jenner, who is also trans and came out in 2015, wrote on Twitter that Thomas wasn't "the rightful winner." She said that runner-up Emma Weyant should be the champion.

The former Olympic decathlete retweeted a post about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issuing an order recognizing Weyant and not Thomas. Jenner, 72, said she agreed with DeSantis.

"It's not transphobic or anti-trans, it's COMMON SENSE!" Jenner wrote.

Jenner has criticized Thomas' participation in women's sports in the past. "We need to protect women's sports," Jenner said told Fox News earlier this year. "I feel sorry for the other athletes that are out there, especially at Penn or anybody she's competing against. ... It's not good for women's sports. It's unfortunate that this is happening."

In response to an article that described her comments as "another disgraceful attack on trans athletes," Jenner tweeted "I just had the balls to stand up for women and girls in sports."

Jenner has previously spoken about opposing trans girls participating in girls' sports in school.

Earlier this week, DeSantis issued a proclamation that declared University of Virginia swimmer Weyant as the "rightful winner," and she had swum the "fastest time among all women swimmers."

Weyant is a Sarasota, Fla., native and won a silver medal at the 2020 Olympic games, according to USA Today.

DeSantis' proclamation reads that "since [Weyant] is a native Floridian from Sarasota, I, Ron DeSantis, Governor of the State of Florida, do hereby declare in Florida that Emma Weyant is the rightful winner of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's 500-yard Freestyle."

The Florida governor has been in the national spotlight after the state's legislature passed what LGBTQ+ advocates have called the "don't say gay" bill, which prohibits instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and places a vague requirement of "age-appropriate" instruction in all grade levels.

He's expected to sign the bill into law soon.