Lia Thomas' former teammates sue UPenn, Harvard and NCAA in lawsuit to scrub her records

Three erstwhile members of the University of Pennsylvania swimming squad person taken enactment to expunge the women's swimming records acceptable by Lia Thomas, a transgender erstwhile collegiate swimmer. 

Former athletes, Grace Estabrook, Ellen Holmquist and Margot Kaczorowski, sued the university, Harvard University, the NCAA and the Ivy League Council of Presidents implicit their 'traumatizing' acquisition sharing a squad with Thomas. 

They impeach the institutions of violating national instrumentality by allowing Thomas to aquatics against women and stock their locker country facilities during the 2021-22 season, according to the lawsuit.

Thomas is not listed arsenic a suspect successful the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday - 1 time earlier President Donald Trump officially signed an enforcement order seeking to support biologic males retired of women's sports. 

The ailment is besides seeking to make a class-action assertion connected behalf of 206 pistillate athletes who competed successful the 2022 Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships, which was hosted by Harvard.

The suit seeks to scrub Thomas's records from the Ivy League, NCAA and Ivy institutions, including Harvard and UPenn, and receive a declaration that the transgender jock was ineligible to compete. 

The plaintiffs reason that allowing the biologically antheral jock to vie against women and stock a locker country was successful usurpation of Title IX. They assertion the acquisition of competing alongside Thomas near them 'repeatedly emotionally traumatized.' 

The suit alleges that pistillate swimmers 'became captive and collateral harm to the Ivy League’s amerciable societal subject experiment.'  

It further accuses assemblage administrators pushing pro-trans ideology onto the plaintiffs passim the process of accepting Thomas onto the squad and into the locker room. 

'I ne'er expected my Ivy League acquisition to thatch maine that women indispensable silently judge losing their opportunities and privacy,' Estabrook said successful a property merchandise Wednesday from the Independent Council connected Women's Sports, which is backing the lawsuit. 

'Women's sports and the leaders who oversee them should not prioritize men's feelings implicit fairness and integrity.' 

The plaintiffs assertion they were led to consciousness that their interest was a 'psychological problem' with the athletes invited to a speech titled, 'Trans 101.' 

'The UPenn administrators told the women that if anyone was struggling with accepting Thomas's information connected the UPenn Women's team, they should question counseling and enactment from CAPS and the LBGTQ center,' the suit alleges. 

It besides alleges that assemblage administrators warned them against speaking astir the concern publicly. 

Thomas, who became the archetypal transgender jock to triumph an NCAA Division 1 rubric successful 2022, had competed for the UPenn men's swimming squad from 2017-20 nether the sanction Will Thomas. 

According to the lawsuit, Thomas was introduced by women's swimming caput manager Mike Schnur to the women's swimmers during a squad gathering successful Fall 2019 arsenic their incoming teammate.

The athletes assertion that they had initially been told that Thomas would not beryllium sharing a changing country with them but were near shocked - with Kaczorowski claiming she was adjacent near successful tears - to observe that Thomas would successful information beryllium allowed to usage the locker room. 

Coach Schnur allegedly told the swimmers that helium would beryllium fired if helium did not let Thomas to usage the locker room. 

The 3 athletes were made to judge that they would beryllium removed from the squad if they protested Thomas's information up of the 2022 Ivy League Championships, the suit alleges. 

Thomas went connected to decorativeness archetypal successful the 500-, 200- and 100-yard freestyle races astatine the championships. She acceptable excavation and Ivy League records, yet becoming the highest-scoring swimmer astatine the full meet. 

On Wednesday, President Trump declared that the warfare connected women's sports was over. 

The 78-year-old surrounded himself with pistillate athletes and activists astatine the White House to sign an enforcement bid barring trans information successful women's sports.

The bid uses Title IX, a instrumentality against enactment favoritism successful taxpayer-funded acquisition programs, to prohibition transgender girls and women from participating successful pistillate schoolhouse sports activities.

Trump said his caller Secretary of State Marco Rubio 'is going to marque wide to the International Olympic Committee' that 'America categorically rejects transgender lunacy.'

'We privation them to alteration everything having to bash with the Olympics and having to bash with this perfectly ridiculous subject,' Trump went on.

The pledge was 1 of Trump's astir fashionable rallying cries during the 2024 predetermination campaign. 

Many assemblage students and their parents expressed interest astir opportunities that women were losing due to the fact that of biologic men competing successful their sports.

Just past week, Thomas's erstwhile opponents elaborate the 'fear' and 'abuse' they encountered portion competing against the transgender swimmer.

'There (was) nary flight from this nightmare,' 1 pistillate told a legislature proceeding astir facing Thomas, who became the archetypal transgender jock to triumph an NCAA Division 1 rubric successful 2022.

There has been increasing contention and statement implicit the aboriginal of women's sports successful caller years and past Thursday, a Georgia authorities Senate committee passed the 'Fair and Safe Athletic Opportunities Act'.

The measure 'would necessitate athletes to enactment connected teams that align with their biologic enactment astatine birth'. Should it walk into law, Georgia would go the 26th authorities to present restrictions astir transgender student-athletes.

Thomas won the nationalist title successful Georgia 3 years agone and 2 erstwhile competitors testified astatine a proceeding past Thursday.

'We each were conscionable guinea pigs for a elephantine societal experimentation formed by the NCAA regarding however overmuch maltreatment and blatant disregard women would beryllium forced to instrumentality successful silence,' Former North Carolina State women's swimmer Kylee Alons said, per Fox.

According to Fox, Alons claimed she wanted to outcry and permission the lawsuit aft watching Thomas triumph the 500m freestyle.

'It each conscionable felt truthful disconnected and wrong,' she said. 'I spell to the locker country that time lone to spot Thomas and recognize determination is nary flight from this nightmare, nary substance wherever I go.

'I had nary thought helium was going to beryllium allowed successful the women's locker country arsenic we did not consent to person a antheral successful our locker room... I americium instantly connected borderline each clip I participate that locker country afterward, knowing astatine immoderate infinitesimal a antheral tin locomotion successful connected maine changing.

Alons reportedly resorted to changing successful a store cupboard down the stands, alternatively than spell into the locker room.

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler, meanwhile, spoke astir her 'discomfort' and 'fear'.

'Young women, teenage girls were forced to undress adjacent to a afloat intact biologic antheral who exposed himself to us, portion we were simultaneously afloat exposed,' Wheeler said.

'We were ne'er asked. We were ne'er fixed a prime oregon different option. We were conscionable expected to beryllium OK with it, to shove down our discomfort, our embarrassment, our fear. Because lasting up for ourselves would mean being labeled arsenic intolerant oregon hateful oregon bigoted.'

Both Wheeler and Lyons joined a suit against the NCAA, led by chap erstwhile swimmer Riley Gaines. She precocious hailed Donald Trump arsenic a 'champion' for women's athletics aft helium declared that the national authorities volition lone admit 2 sexes – antheral and female.