Riley Gaines, a former Kentucky diver, was one of several college athletes who filed a complaint against the NCAA on Thursday, alleging that it violated their Title IX rights by allowing transgender woman Lia Thomas to compete at the 2022 national championships.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, details the impact Gaines and other athletes experienced when they learned they would have to share a locker room with Thomas at the finals in Atlanta. It documents several races they swam 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.
Taylor Mathieu of Florida, another plaintiff, placed seventh in the initial heats of the 500-meter freestyle, which eliminated her from the final that Thomas would then go on to win. Thomas was the first openly transgender athlete to capture a Division I title in any sport, coming in ahead of three Olympian finalists in the event. Mathieu was denied first-team All-American honors in that competition because she did not make it to the final.
Tennis and track athletes were the other plaintiffs.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs “bring this case to secure for future generations of women the promise of Title IX that the NCAA has denied them and other college athletes.”
“The NCAA and its members continue to promote Title IX, make extraordinary investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships,” the NCAA said in a statement. “College sports are the pinnacle for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to do so,” the NCAA said in a statement.
Although extensive research is still lacking on elite athletics and almost nonexistent in determining whether a transgender woman has a clear advantage over her cisgender opponents or teammates, critics claim that transgender athletes have an advantage over cisgender women in competition.
The NCAA revised its policies on transgender athlete participation in an effort to align with national sports governing bodies in 2022, following the example of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
The NCAA’s rules are being updated to match national and international sports governing body standards in the third phase of the revised policy, which is scheduled to go into effect in the 2024-25 school year.
The lawsuit also lists the University of Georgia system as a defendant because one of its schools, Georgia Tech, hosted the 2022 championships. The lawsuit argues that the NCAA’s transgender eligibility guidelines, which adversely impact female athletes in violation of Title IX, should be applied at upcoming events being held in Georgia.
Representatives from the Georgia schools claimed they had received no notice of the lawsuit and would not comment.
