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

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.

    • yenahmik@lemmy.world
      28·
      9 months ago

      If there’s any real debate to be had, it’s along the lines of male hormones and penises. Should either be present in a place which essentially only exists for the purpose of keeping those things out?

      They are. Every sporting governing body I’m aware of requires trans women to be on hormone therapy for a minimum of 2 years before they can compete in the women’s category. This is completely in line with the medical community’s research into how long it takes before the benefits of being biologically male are counteracted by the hormone replacement.

      The debate has been had in the medical community and has been resolved. Now random people who never gave a fuck about women’s sports before think they should have input when they have no qualifications, just because they have prejudices.

        • yenahmik@lemmy.world
          26·
          9 months ago

          Could be, but they would still be required to pass tests to prove their hormones are in the appropriate range, just like cis women have to do when tested for doping with testosterone.

        • mark3748@sh.itjust.works
          16·
          9 months ago

          I mean, that’s already covered by testing. Women’s and men’s sports have different limits, USADA isn’t as dumb as you think.

          Unless you’re just completely unaware that such an agency exists, then you just don’t understand how competitive sports actually work.

          • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.eeEnglish
            7·
            9 months ago

            It’s really funny seeing all the neck-beards bloviate about sports culture they know nothing about.

      • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
        4·
        9 months ago

        I only care about the locker room thing. If some of the other competitors are uncomfortable with that then we should hear them.

        That is something that is very personal to a lot of people.

        In a bathroom is one thing, they have stalls and privacy, an open locker room is a completely different thing.

        Other than that, idk enough to have an educated opinion, so I don’t care enough to have one.