Riley Gaines Responds To NCAA’s Latest Title IX Escape Hatch

Riley Gaines has promised to appeal after a federal district court judge dismissed her case against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for allowing men access to women’s sports teams and locker rooms.

In a joint press release published Tuesday, Gaines and the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) announced their plan after U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson issued a ruling in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Johnson ruled, in Gaines v. NCAA, that the NCAA is not accountable under Title IX for allowing men to compete on women’s sports teams or gain access to women’s locker rooms and changing facilities.

“This momentary setback will not deter me or other women athletes in the least,” Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who was forced to compete with trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas, said in a statement following the ruling. “Rest assured, we will be appealing this decision. We are on the side of truth. I am confident Americans will rally to our side to fight the NCAA. Working together we will defeat the NCAA’s continuing efforts to trample women’s rights in sports.”

ICONS Co-Founder Kim Jones, a former NCAA All-American tennis player, also released a statement supporting Gaines and throwing the weight of her organization behind plans to appeal the case.

“We believe the district judge erred and that the Court of Appeals will find that the NCAA, which is the controlling body of college sports for more than 1,100 member schools, almost all of which are federally funded, is subject to Title IX. We will not give up our fight for women and girls’ rights in sports,” she said.

“ICONS will support an appeal by Riley Gaines, Brooke Slusser, Kylee Alons, Reka Gyorgy, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Grace Countie, Ainsley Erzen, Lily Mullens, and the many other young women who depended on the NCAA to protect their equal opportunities but were let down by the NCAA,” she added.

By holding that the NCAA is not subject to Title IX — which was implemented to address discrimination against women and girls — ICONS and Gaines argue that the court is effectively removing all protections for women in NCAA competition.

Additionally, because universities have consistently defended a reliance on NCAA policy, ICONS and Gaines argued that the ruling leaves no clear authority to whom women and girls can appeal.

The Protect College Sports Act — which passed the Senate on Monday — raises other questions about the NCAA’s authority to allow men into women’s spaces. Despite an amendment to the bill — pushed by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Jim Banks (R-IN), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) — that would prevent state laws from superseding it and allowing men to compete on women’s teams, Gaines and ICONS worry that the measure gives the NCAA the authority to do just that.

“The PCSA’s overly broad exemption would short-circuit these lawsuits and halt efforts to hold the NCAA accountable under Title IX. By exempting all NCAA eligibility decisions, the bill would shield the NCAA from liability for past and future eligibility decisions that violate Title IX,” Jones wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on August 2.

“The PCSA would exempt the NCAA from accountability under state laws in 27 states, and from measures on the ballot in several others, which specifically address eligibility for women’s sports teams in college. These state laws became necessary because the NCAA and its member institutions were violating Title IX,” she added.

Fellow ICONS Co-Founder — and former NCAA swimmer — Marshi Smith also issued a statement urging votes against the PCSA at least as long as it would give the NCAA broad authority to determine its own eligibility standards.

“The NCAA thinks it can use its vast financial resources to avoid responsibility to protect women’s opportunities in college sports. We won’t let the NCAA get away with it. The NCAA’s refusal to recognize its responsibility to uphold women’s rights means the NCAA cannot be trusted to regulate anyone’s sports — men’s or women’s,” she said.

“All Americans who care about women’s sports should act immediately to prevent the NCAA from hurting women and girls. ICONS urges every member of Congress to withdraw support for the Protect College Sports Act which, if passed, would give the NCAA vast new powers over college sports eligibility and a broad exemption from federal law,” Smith added. “ICONS calls upon every female athlete, every soccer mom, and every girl’s dad who cares about girl’s sports to immediately call your Senators and your Congressman and ask them to vote against the Protect College Sports Act. The NCAA cannot be trusted to receive broad new powers that it will only use to inflict further harm upon women.”

President Donald Trump has voiced support for the PCSA — which was largely designed to address issues around transfer eligibility, revenue sharing, and NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules — but because the House of Representatives is in recess until after the midterm elections, it is not likely to move forward until at least November.

More from this network:
Domains for Sale · GOTPeople.org · TheDSAPlatform · The Truth About Socialism

Donate to GOTPeople.org