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Riley Gaines, former Division 1 swimmer and current advocate for women’s sports, speaks at the Riley Gaines Center’s spring campus tour at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Riley Gaines is the Director of The Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute. (Photo/Maggie Foster)

Riley Gaines, a former National Collegiate Athletic Association swimmer and current advocate for women’s sports, spoke at the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd Art Building to share her experiences as a female division I swimmer and to discuss the topic of transgender women in women’s sports on March 14. Her visit came ahead of the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships that will occur at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens from Wednesday, March 20, through Saturday, March 23.

Gaines, along with more than a dozen other college athletes, sued the NCAA at the United States District Court in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, March 14, claiming that the NCAA violated their Title IX laws by allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports.

Previously, Gaines competed in the NCAA 2022 Swimming and Diving Championships, where she tied with Lia Thomas, a transgender woman. This led Gaines to become an advocate for the protection of women’s sports, currently speaking at college campuses across the nation.

“I have no animosity towards Thomas,” Gaines said. “It’s the rules I have a problem with, which is ultimately the goal of this lawsuit is to change the rules.”

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Posters and other memorabilia line the chairs inside the lecture hall for attendees to take home on Thursday, March 14, 2024 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo/Maggie Foster)

Maggie Foster

Among the rest of the athletes who filed the lawsuit, Gaines believes transgender women are at an unfair physical advantage over biologically female athletes.

The lawsuit lists the University System of Georgia as a defendant, according to AP, because Georgia Tech hosted the 2022 swimming and diving championships.

“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, according to AP.

“How could we as women expect someone to stand up for us if we weren’t even willing to stand up for ourselves,” Gaines said at Thursday’s event. “This has to come from us.”

Gaines believes the topic of restricting transgender women from women’s sports should be a nonpartisan issue, as she claims the large majority of Americans agree with this notion.

According to Movement Advancement Project data, 24 states have enacted bills prohibiting transgender students from competing in the sports aligning with their gender identity. Approximately four years ago in 2020, Idaho was the only state with such laws.

Georgia currently allows transgender athletes to compete in the sport supporting their gender identity.

“My message to UGA students specifically being here in the state of Georgia, like I had just mentioned, Georgia doesn’t have a statute that protects this,” Gaines said. “So those who are residents in the state, it is important to get involved, reach out to your representatives, to your senators and legislators at both the state and federal level.”

Ambassador Olivia Krolczyk at the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute seconds Gaines on the fact that students are invaluable to political discussion and mobilization.

“College should be a place where through open discussion and debate, students can come to their own conclusions,” Krolczyk said. “Not only should colleges be this way, but it is every student’s right to speak their mind.”

Several UGA students came to hear Riley Gaines speak on campus. The floor was opened to questions and comments at the end of her speech.

“Riley Gaines is a wonderful and courageous woman,” UGA student John Hopkins said. “She is doing something that not a lot of us have the courage to do.”