Former Lia Thomas opponents push Georgia lawmakers to pass trans athlete ban: Giant social experiment formed by the NCAA

A Georgia state Senate committee passed the Fair and Safe Athletic Opportunities Act Thursday after testimony from multiple female athletes who have competed against and shared locker rooms with transgender athletes. The bill would require athletes to participate on teams that align with their biological sex at birth.If it is signed into law, Georgia would become the 26th state in the U.S.

to have a law in place to prevent or restrict transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. Georgia has been a prime frontier for this issue after the state hosted the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championships, which included transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. Two of Thomas’ former opponents testified at Thursday’s state congressional hearing.Former North Carolina State women’s swimmer Kylee Alons, a 31-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion, spoke about the experience competing against and sharing a locker room with Thomas.“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,” Alons said. Alons recounted the emotions she felt sharing competitive areas with Thomas, and how much sadness she felt watching women lose out on chances to compete fairly at the event.Alons even said she wanted to cry and leave the event after seeing Thomas win the 500-meter freestyle. “It all just felt so off and wrong,” she said.Things got much more difficult for Lyons after she experienced sharing a locker room with Thomas. “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,” Lyons said “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. Lyons added she felt so uncomforta...