Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among more than a dozen college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing transgender woman Lia Thomas to compete at the national championships in 2022.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, details the shock Gaines and other swimmers felt when they learned they would have to share a locker room with Thomas at the championships in Atlanta. It documents a number of races they swam in with Thomas, including the 200-yard final in which Thomas and Gaines tied for fifth but Thomas, not Gaines, was handed the fifth-place trophy.

Thomas swam for Pennsylvania. She competed for the men’s team at Penn before her gender transition.

Thomas was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in any sport, finishing in front of three Olympic medalists for the championship. By not making the final, the lawsuit mentions that Florida swimmer Tylor Mathieu, who was not a plaintiff, was denied first-team All-American honors in that event.

Other plaintiffs included athletes from volleyball and track.

  • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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    9 months ago

    But the thing is, it’s the actual athletes that make up the league that have a problem with this.

    You’re only looking at it from your side and not from theirs

    • Cogency@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The vast majority of women don’t mind. And you don’t speak for us or get to decide if women and trans women are on different sides about anything. Because we literally are women.

      • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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        9 months ago

        I agree the vast majority don’t.

        These ones do, the problem could be solved easily enough with separate locker rooms.

        And I’m not trying to speak for anyone, so watch your fucking self it’s right there in the article.

        • Cogency@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          But why seperate, why differentiate just to alienate a kid trying to live out their lives?

          • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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            9 months ago

            First of all, the person in question was in their 20’s at the time. She is 25 now and it happened 2 years ago.

            Secondly, I never said to alienate anyone. Give the women that are uncomfortable their own locker room.

            I do not see the issue here.

            The only place would not be allowed is that locker room and that does not affect her in any meaningful way.

            Yes, she has to deal with the fact that those people are uncomfortable around her, but that is just part of life.

            Let’s try this another way, if the way to make the problem go away is just to allow someone else to have another locker room and not share it, why shouldn’t we do that with how easy it is?

            • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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              9 months ago

              I buy that if it’s not a “trans locker” but a “TERF locker”. Women that don’t have a problem can go to the “normal” women locker.

              • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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                9 months ago

                That’s what I keep saying, everyone wants to take it the wrong way.

                I even said the people with a problem could just use the men’s locker room.

                If that is a problem then they can just go in shifts. There are so many easy ways to let these people isolate themselves if they are uncomfortable or bigoted.

                Either way everyone wins.

            • Cogency@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Because it’s insisting on a distinction when there is none. Anatomy doesn’t make the woman dude.

              • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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                9 months ago

                You keep looking at this like I have ever said that.

                Here are the simple facts: you have one person who makes some of the group uncomfortable changing around them, you give the group that is uncomfortable, their own changing area.

                Why they are uncomfortable does not matter at all maybe it could be just because they don’t want to change around a different competitor. I really don’t give a shit. There’s an easy solution.

                Would we be having this issue if it was a group that didn’t want to change around certain competitors for any other reason?

                Maybe they’re from nationalities that clash next time, the same solution works.

                Maybe it’s just redheads that do not want to change around people with blue eyes.

                You already have two locker rooms, and room and the women’s room have the ones that are uncomfortable use the men’s room there’s not gonna be anyone in there anyway

                • Cogency@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  That’s a whole lot of words to use to say just to say use the men’s room and the answer is no. We are women we’re entitled to be with women. We need the same or more protection from men that other women do.

                  • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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                    9 months ago

                    My suggestion was that the people with the problem can use the men’s locker room since it is already built.

                    Everyone without a problem can use the women’s.

                    If the people with a problem are uncomfortable being isolated then oh fucking well.

                    Either they are truly uncomfortable in which case they can be comfortable now, or they are bigots that are self isolating.

                    Fucking win win

        • bufalo1973@lemmy.ml
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          9 months ago

          If tomorrow the separate locker was build then it would be another thing. It’s not about seeing a penis (and maybe not even that) but “that is not a woman”. And that is the only problem. In their minds a trans woman is not a woman.

          • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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            9 months ago

            There is already another room. The men’s locker room.

            How often are men and women competing at the same time, so that might change something.

            Maybe just use shifts then?

            I don’t care about what the reason is.

            The people asking for it are the ones isolating themselves, and honestly I just see that as a good thing.

            Our lives would all be way better if bigots isolated themselves.

            Edit: better gots to bigots