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.
We’re getting away from the point here that how I feel about any of this doesn’t matter
I’m not the one on the lawsuit and I’m not the one in the changing room.
Honestly, if it was me, I would go change in the bathroom portion of it not shower as long as I was there.
I’m just that way, I don’t wanna see you naked, I don’t want you to see me naked.
I don’t think other people should be forced to follow my way, that’s why I adapt myself to the situation.
I would be fucking ecstatic if you offered me a locker room away from everyone else.
But that’s just me and I get the most people aren’t that way