By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-02-01 03:51:41 | Updated at 2025-02-01 06:53:46
3 hours ago
Former opponents of Lia Thomas have detailed the 'fear' and 'abuse' they encountered while competing against the transgender swimmer.
'There (was) no escape from this nightmare,' one woman told a congressional hearing about facing Thomas, who became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division 1 title in 2022.
There has been growing controversy and debate over the future of women's sports in recent years and on Thursday, a Georgia state Senate committee passed the 'Fair and Safe Athletic Opportunities Act'.
The bill 'would require athletes to participate on teams that align with their biological sex at birth'. Should it pass into law, Georgia would become the 26th state to introduce restrictions around transgender student-athletes.
Thomas won the national championship in Georgia three years ago and two former competitors testified at a hearing on Thursday.
'We all were just guinea pigs for a giant social experiment formed by the NCAA regarding how much abuse and blatant disregard women would be forced to take in silence,' Former North Carolina State women's swimmer Kylee Alons said, per Fox.
Former opponents of Lia Thomas have detailed the 'fear' and 'abuse' they encountered while competing against the transgender swimmer
Kylee Alons (L) and Kaitlynn Wheeler (R) spoke about their experiences at a hearing
According to Fox, Alons claimed she wanted to cry and leave the event after watching Thomas win the 500m freestyle.
'It all just felt so off and wrong,' she said. 'I go to the locker room that day only to see Thomas and realize there is no escape from this nightmare, no matter where I go.
'I had no idea he was going to be allowed in the women's locker room as we did not consent to have a man in our locker room... I am immediately on edge every time I enter that locker room afterward, knowing at any moment a man can walk in on me changing.
Alons reportedly resorted to changing in a store cupboard behind the stands, rather than go into the locker room.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler, meanwhile, spoke about her 'discomfort' and 'fear'.
'Young women, teenage girls were forced to undress next to a fully intact biological male who exposed himself to us, while we were simultaneously fully exposed,' Wheeler said.
'We were never asked. We were never given a choice or another option. We were just expected to be OK with it, to shove down our discomfort, our embarrassment, our fear. Because standing up for ourselves would mean being labeled as intolerant or hateful or bigoted.'
Both Wheeler and Lyons joined a lawsuit against the NCAA, led by fellow former swimmer Riley Gaines. She recently hailed Donald Trump as a 'champion' for women's sport after he declared that the federal government will only recognize two sexes – male and female.
