Former Lia Thomas opponents share 'abuse,' push Georgia lawmakers to pass trans athlete in women's sports ban

Podcast host Riley Gaines joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss why she considers far-left criticism of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act 'theatrical performance.'

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. 

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Riley Gaines, a spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s Forum, tied Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200 freestyle finals at the NCAA swimming and diving championships.  (Brett Davis/USA Today Sports)

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