Paula Scanlan is a former University of Pennsylvania Collegiate swimmer who competed alongside transgender athlete Lia Thomas. She attended President Trump’s signing of an executive order barring transgender athletes from women’s sports at the White House on Wednesday.

Here she tells The Post’s Rikki Schlott why she’s encouraged by middle and high school kids getting behind the order and the absurdity of it being necessary in the first place:

I’m grateful to President Trump for signing his executive order banning male athletes from women’s sports, because it will protect future generations of female athletes from having to experience what I did.

I was there at the White House when Trump signed his order, which helps keep biological men out of women’s sports by pressuring schools via funding through Title IX.

It was a wonderful day. My favorite part was seeing so many young girls there, close enough to touch the shoulder of the president while he was signing the order.

I was invited to attend because I’m a former swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, where a biologically male athlete by the name of Leah Thomas joined my women’s swim team in 2021, and I’ve been vocal about that experience ever since.

Thomas, who is 6’4”, gained national attention for blowing female competitors out of the water in NCAA championship competitions.

People can see the differences between male and female on the athletic field, but what they don’t see is what happens behind closed doors in the locker rooms and in bathrooms. 

This issue is so much deeper than unfairness in sports. My teammates and I were undressing in the locker room 18 times every single week with this biologically male athlete. 

I would hear a male voice, and my instincts would kick in. I would think someone was there who wasn’t supposed to be there, but then I would have to jump myself back to reality. We actually invited this male individual to be in our space.

I felt that my university silenced me from speaking out about the injustice of having a biological male on our team. They even told us we could seek psychological services if we had an issue with it.

That was really the moment where I realized this was not about our feelings. It was always about prioritizing the feelings of male athletes over female athletes. 

The executive order was a great win, but honestly the best way to describe it is bittersweet. It’s a little bit funny that we even have to do this. We actually have to have a sitting president sign a piece of paper that says, “Hey, yeah, men should not compete in women’s sports.”

I have so many friends that have reached out to me who disagree with every other thing that I believe politically but who totally support me on this issue. I think the majority of people agree, but they’re just afraid to say it. 

But courage is contagious, and now I’m seeing more and more people speaking up. High schoolers and even middle schoolers are making their voices heard on this issue. It finally feels like the tide is turning.

The young girls at the White House on Wednesday understood why this was so important. They weren’t forced there for a photo-op.

Now that we have this executive order, I want to see other governing bodies follow suit. The goal is to have something passed in Congress, because in 4 years, who’s to say that another president can’t come in with a different executive order?

I really do hope that they bring this to the Senate and get the 60 votes they need to pass it, which is challenging given Democrats’ track record on this issue.

It’s important to get Democrats on the record saying that they believe men should compete in women’s sports. Making them vote on this will say a lot about their values.

They’re being held hostage by this really small, loud group within their party, and they’re forcing them to vote this way because they are going to call them mean names.

This executive order is an important step in the right direction, but the work is not done yet.

I’m excited for the future. I no longer compete, but I’m happy for the young girls, because it looks like the next generation of women might not have to go through what I did.