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.

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    This will ENSURE that next time Riley Gaines will get First instead of Fifth! The ONLY thing holding her back was Lia Thomas being TRANS!

    • Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Because if they have gone through puberty as a man the physical advantages of height, muscle mass, muscle density etc. conferred upon them because of testosterone and other male hormones do not fully diminish even years after those hormones are fully suppressed.

    • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth
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      8 months ago

      They were uncomfortable sharing a locker room, I see where you are coming from, but I can also see their point as well.

      Where do their comforts and rights stand compared to Lia’s?

      • Laurentide@pawb.social
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        8 months ago

        I’m sure a lot of white women felt uncomfortable sharing a locker room with black women when segregation ended. Comfort isn’t a good enough reason to have “whites only” locker rooms so why the hell would it justify “cis only” ones? It’s not Lia’s responsibility if Riley can only handle being around certain types of women.

  • OlPatchy2Eyes@slrpnk.net
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    8 months ago

    If you didn’t play any sports in your teens and 20’s then you shouldn’t take part in this conversation.

  • twig@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    8 months ago

    This debate is asinine.

    Fuck it, let’s just abolish competitive sport until people can calm the fuck down about their stupid games. Maybe we could make the world better in general if we funnel some of that sporting money into something that isn’t totally pointless.

    • stoly@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      lol you point out that the amount of money put into sports could be used for other things. You suggest making the world better as a possible use case.

      There’s nothing incorrect about any of this yet people got angry with you. It’s weird.