FIRST ON FOX: Five NCAA All-American Women Athletes, including OutKick.com contributor Riley Gaines, will testify in Georgia about their experience competing against and sharing a locker room with a biological male.
Earlier this month, the Georgia state Senate established a Special Select Committee on Women’s Sports to analyze the issue of biological males competing against female athletes.
Fox News Digital learned that the first topic of the committee’s inquiry will focus on the 2022 National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, where biological male swimmer, Lia Thomas, competed for the University of Pennsylvania women’s swimming team.
The hearings will feature testimony from Riley Gaines, the host of “Gaines for Girls” who competed against and eventually tied with Thomas, who identifies as a woman, in the 200-yard NCAA championships.
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Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines (L) testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill on Dec. 5, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer)
In addition to competing, Gaines and other women involved in the tournament will reportedly recall being forced to share a locker room with Thomas.
Also testifying will be athletes Reka Gyorgy, Kylee Alons, Grace Countie, and Kaitlynn Wheeler — all members of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in March alleging the association knowingly violated Title IX in allowing Thomas to compete.
The women athletes will reportedly “explain how they were harmed by the actions of Georgia Tech University and the NCAA and what must be done to protect women in the future,” according to their lead attorney, William Bock III.
Virginia Tech swimmer Reka Gyorgy swims the 400 IM consolation finals during the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18th, 2022 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“My priority is to ensure that female athletes across Georgia have the right to compete on a fair and level playing field, and I will not waver on this effort,” Lt. Governor Burt Jones, R-Ga., said in an announcement of the special committee. “We will not stand idly by while radical politicians, athletic associations, schools and higher education institutions push policies threatening this right.”
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The first hearing will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Georgia State Capitol.
Georgia Tech University and the NCAA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
