Current and former college athletes sue NCAA, alleging Title IX violations over transgender policy

More than a dozen current and former collegiate female athletes filed a lawsuit with a US District Court in Georgia on Thursday, alleging that the NCAA “serially violated Title IX in 2022 by purposefully adopting and amending policies” to allow transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete with the UPenn women’s swim team during NCAA competitions.

Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title after winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle event in March 2022, as N previously reported.

The lawsuit, filed against the NCAA and the University System of Georgia, who hosted the 2022 NCAA championships at Georgia Tech, claims the defendants violated Title IX.

The athletes also allege the NCAA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment “by treating women unequally in comparison to men, depriving women of competitive opportunities equal to those afforded men, and violating women’s right to bodily privacy.”

The lawsuit seeks to have a judge declare that the NCAA violated Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment and to keep the NCAA from “enforcing or implementing” its transgender eligibility rules.

The plaintiffs also seek a ruling, requiring the NCAA to invalidate and revise all records and titles that were based on the results of competitions that allowed transgender athletes to participate.

The athletes say in the lawsuit they filed it “to secure for future generations of women the promise of Title IX that is being denied them and other college women” by the NCAA.

“College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships,” the NCAA said in a statement.

The University System of Georgia declined to comment on pending litigation.