A college swimmer who was forced to change in a closet to avoid the peering eyes of “transgender woman” Lia Thomas is now speaking out.
As previously reported, Thomas was a biological male college student who began competing against biological females after claiming to be transgender. In doing so, he inconvenienced many young girls, including Kylee Alons.
My sense of safety was violated: Former NCAA swimmer Kylee Alons pic.twitter.com/W9wYKTKfQQ
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) June 24, 2023
“Not only was he advantaged against us, he was stronger, bigger, and stole titles from some of these women, but he was also creating a very uncomfortable environment in the locker room,” Alons told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview this weekend.
She added that she became “really stressed” over Thomas being in the locker room with her, to the point that he made her feel as if the room “wasn’t a safe and private place.”
“I tried to keep myself mostly covered just in case he walked in. … I ended up changing in a storage closet that was behind our team’s bleachers,” she said, further noting that she “not the only one” to resort to this strategy.
It’s been a required strategy ever since NCAA Championships organizers decided in 2022 to allow Thomas and those like him to use female locker rooms at the 2022 NCAA Championships tournament.
The NCAA has been on the side of the transgender community since at least 2016, when the league pulled all championship events out of North Carolina over a law requiring people to use the locker room/bathroom corresponding to their biological sex.
These championship events will be relocated from North Carolina for 2016-17: https://t.co/avBxZi2evr pic.twitter.com/zQX8wYcuiN
— NCAA (@NCAA) September 12, 2016
“The NCAA will move seven championship events this academic year from the state of North Carolina, including the first and second rounds of the 2017 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, because of the state’s controversial HB2 law,” ESPN reported at the time.
“The NCAA said deciding factors in moving the events were that the North Carolina law ‘invalidated any local law that treats sexual orientation as a protected class or has a purpose to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals.'”
According to Alons, the NCAA’s decision to allow Thomas to use the locker room of his choice at the 2022 tournament meant the league “had made up their mind to disrespect and put women in an uncomfortable situation.”
“She said the atmosphere was ‘on edge’ at the meet, where other competitors also ‘attest to it being a very uncomfortable environment, it got quiet and stiff.’ Once other swimmers saw Alons’ tactic of using the closet, which she said was ‘very hard to get to’, she claimed several other teams in their area also hid from their trans rival,” the Daily Mail notes.
Introducing the brave and courageous Kylee Alons.
Kylee Alons is a @YWforA ambassador and a 31 time All American, 2 Time NCAA National Champion and 5 time ACC Champion. She is also considered the most decorated swimmer in NC State history.
In 2022 at the NCAA Women’s Swimming… pic.twitter.com/ayJ28KAyDE
— Concerned Women for America LAC (@CWforA) June 22, 2023
She’s only now speaking out because she sees the same thing now happening over and over again.
“I know so many women that are swimmers, as freshmen, even this is happening in high schools. I realized I have a story, I have a voice, and I want to use it to help change this,” she told the Daily Mail.
Alons added that she thought things would change naturally after Thomas’ victory at the 2022 tournament, but she was clearly wrong.
“I thought, given a couple months, things would be different – but it’s been over a year since the NCAA Championships, and it has not apologized for the hostile environment they created. They haven’t revised their policies going forward,” she told the Daily Mail.
She specifically blames organizers for the “hostile environment,” saying they allowed a biological man to compete “without hearing any of the voices of the female athletes that were going to be affected.”
A year later, Alons says the NCAA’s chiefs’ behavior has since turned into “straight resistance.”
“They still haven’t issued an apology… It’s been complete ignorance and silencing of women that have spoken up, such as Riley Gaines,” she said.
To be clear, Alons hasn’t herself ever been forced to compete against Thomas — not yet at least.
“She did not compete against Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Championships as they swam in different categories. But she said she is speaking out now to save the sport she loves, feeling the physical advantage transgender women possess over biological women is clear,” according to the Daily Mail.
Indeed, she was reportedly in Washington, D.C., last week “lobbying lawmakers to make policy changes over the issue, meeting with elected officials to bring ‘real change’.”
Today I met with Kylee, the most decorated swimmer in NC State history. She told me how she changed in a storage closet at the NCAA finals rather than experience the sexual harassment that comes with undressing in front of Will “Lia” Thomas – a biological male who insisted on… pic.twitter.com/l8S99JzVQ0
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) June 21, 2023
Thank you to @CWforA and @PYNance for working with me on getting The Protection of Women & Girls in Sports Act passed in the House. The Senate must vote on this critical bill to save women’s sports and protect female athletes like Kylee from sexual harassment in the locker room. pic.twitter.com/Ak2OcFw5Pl
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) June 21, 2023
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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