Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete who competed in the 2022 U.S. College Championship Swimming Championships and won the 500-yard (457.2 meters) category in women’s freestyle, has been litigated in the U.S. over transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports. Former and current female athletes have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s championships. According to ABC News on the 19th (local time), 16 female athletes filed a lawsuit on the 14th against the NCAA for allowing transgender athlete Lia Thomas to compete in the 2022 U.S. College Championship Swimming Championships. They argued that the NCAA’s decision violated the equal rights of female athletes and violated a law that prohibits gender discrimination in the curriculum. “The NCAA’s most basic mission is to protect fairness and the safety of athletes, and it has failed to do this simple task,” said Caitlin Wheeler, a former University of Kentucky swimmer who filed the lawsuit. Their complaint focuses on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who competed at the 2022 NCAA National Swimming Championships as a member of the University of Pennsylvania.Thomas had a non-surgical transition from male to female starting in 2019 through hormone therapy. He did not remove his genital organs and only received male hormone suppression treatment. The NCAA allowed Thomas to compete in the women’s event, claiming that he had been treated for more than a year. In that year, Thomas won the women’s 500-yard freestyle race (457.2 meters). When he competed as a male athlete, the U.S. ranking ranged from 400 to 500. “I had to take off my clothes 18 times a week in front of Thomas as his male genital organs were still in place,” Thomas’ colleague Paula Scanlan told the U.S. House of Representatives late last year. “There were some female students who were changing clothes in the bathroom or using the family bathroom to avoid such a situation.”
“The female athletes complained, but the school only responded that it could not be compromised,” she said. “We provided counseling so that we could get used to taking off our clothes in front of men.” Sixteen former and current female athletes filed a lawsuit against the National University Sports Association (NCAA), which allowed transgender athlete Lia Thomas to participate in the women’s event on the 12th (local time). The current and former players are demanding that the rules be applied to this year’s competition to be blocked. They also demanded that all records and titles based on the results of the previous competition be nullified. “What the players who filed the suit really want is an equal and fair opportunity,” their lawyers said. “Everyone should be equal on the starting line.” The NCAA did not directly comment on the lawsuit. However, it said it would continue to invest unprecedentedly in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all competitions. “The lawsuit eliminates the possibility that transgender athletes can exist in the same space,” said Athlete Ally, an LGBTQ advocacy group. “We sympathize with the pain of all athletes who fail to reach their athletic goals, but there is no basis for identifying transgender athletes as the cause of their failure or using them as scapegoats.”
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
