Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was among more than a dozen college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday, March 14, accusing them 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.[1] This lawsuit was field by a total of 16 plaintiffs who have competed in various college sports programs. They are seeking punitive damages and relief for emotional distress, and a ban on trans women in women’s locker rooms, as well as the removal of Thomas and other trans athletes from the official NCAA women’s record books.[2]
The lawsuit 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.[3] Thomas swam for University of Pennsylvania, and she competed for the men’s team at Penn before her gender transition.[4]Thomas is the first open transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I national championship, which she won in 2022.[5] During her freshman year, Thomas recorded a time of eight minutes and 57.55 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle that ranked as the sixth-fastest national men’s time, and also recorded 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle times that ranked within the national top 100. On the men’s swim team in 2018–2019, Thomas finished second in the men’s 500, 1,000, and 1,650-yard freestyle at the Ivy League championships as a sophomore in 2019. During the 2018–2019 season, Thomas recorded the top UPenn men’s team times in the 500 free, 1000 free, and 1650 free, but was the sixth best among UPenn men’s team members in the 200 free. Thomas began her transition in 2019 and started swimming for the women’s team during the 2021-2022 season.
In 2021, the Department of Education issued updated guidance asserting that the term “sex” in Title IX’s anti-discrimination protections also applies equally to trans people.[6] That same year, Thomas’s breakout success led to a wave of anti-trans backlash across college sports, leading the NCAA to adopt new policies on trans participation in January 2022. Those rules allow other athletic organizations to set restrictions on hormone levels among other medical requirements for trans athletes on a sport-by-sport basis, deferring to international guidelines in the event no such policy exists for a given sport. The lawsuit stated the plaintiffs “bring this case to secure for future generations of women the promise of Title IX that is being denied them and other college women” by the NCAA. In 2022, the NCAA revised its policies on transgender athlete participation in what it called an attempt to align with national sports governing bodies. The NCAA commented on the lawsuit, stating: “College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships.” This lawsuit could be pivotal within collegiate sports as openly transgender athletes are becoming more prevalent. We will see how the NCAA continues to monitor these types of situations.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/transgender-lia-thomas-swimming-lawsuit-b7df63108a03100f36b2e4364d585cdc
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lia_Thomas
[6] https://www.them.us/story/ncaa-lawsuit-lia-thomas-trans-athletics
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