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.
I have no doubts.
Have you seen me deadname or misgender her?
Have you seen me cast any shade her way about whether or not she should be allowed to compete with other women?
So I will ask this, what would you tell the other women that are having to share the locker room and are uncomfortable?
Why do the people directly affected by this not get to have their opinions considered?
You will find some random person on any community gyms locker room that will make you uncomfortable for many reasons that are yours to deal with. If she was just doing her thing and just changing, I don’t see why she has to go to a different one because some transphobes didn’t want see her naked for 2 seconds.
I am suggesting that the people with a problem get their own locker room away from everyone else