NCAA athletes file lawsuit to ban transgender women from competing in women's sports

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The NCAA is being sued by a group of 16 female athletes seeking to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

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The lawsuit revolves around Lia Thomas, a much-publicized swimmer who competed as a male at the University of Pennsylvania three years before transitioning to female, the New York Post reported, per The Free Press.

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Thomas established records throughout the swim season and won the 2022 NCAA championship in the 500-yard freestyle.

The lawsuit calls for the NCAA to “reassign” awards won by trans competitors to biological women who would have otherwise won them. It also calls for “damages for pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, suffering and anxiety, expense costs and other damages due to defendants’ wrongful conduct.”

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at the “Tell the NCAA: Stop Discriminating Against Female Athletes” rally in 2023. AP Photo

Riley Gaines, a former Kentucky swimmer who has been outspoken about not receiving a trophy after tying Thomas in an NCAA championship race, is listed as a plaintiff along with swimmers Kylee Alons, Katie Blankenship, Réka György, Julianna Morrow, Lily Mullens, Kate Pearson, Carter Satterfield and Kaitlynn Wheeler.

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The plaintiff list also includes a volleyball player, a tennis player and two track competitors.

The suit alleges biological men who have gone through puberty have inherent athletic advantages, “which no woman can achieve without doping,” the Post reported.

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Additionally, the athletes claim the NCAA violated the fourteenth amendment by “destroying female safe spaces in women’s locker rooms,” in enabling Thomas to use the women’s locker room during competition.

“Naked men possessing full male genitalia to disrobe in front of non-consenting college women” cause “situations in which unwilling female college athletes unwittingly or reluctantly exposed their unclad bodies to males, subjecting women to a loss of their constitutional right to bodily privacy,” the suit alleges.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Georgia, the site of the NCAA championships in 2022.

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