Riley Gaines took the world by storm following her comments on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. She recently spoke out against Lia Thomas, a rival competitor who is a transgender woman (biologically male).
Gaines and Thomas were participants in the 2023 NCAA Swimming Championship. Riley has been trying to make a change as transgender males are now allowed to use the women’s locker rooms, which according to her makes other women uncomfortable.
Please tag them so it can’t be ignored! Again, the silence is deafening.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 8, 2023
Each day for the next week I’m going to call on well-known female athletes to take a stance on this issue because silence is complicity…we need their voices.
Day 2: @RondaRousey how do you feel about males competing against women?
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 9, 2023
Each day for the next week I’m going to call on well-known female athletes to take a stance on this issue because silence is complicity…we need their voices.
Day 3: @CaitlinClark22 @Reese10Angel how do you feel about males competing against women?
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 10, 2023
The All-American swimmer has been trying to get prominent sports figures to speak on the issue. “Each day for the next week I’m going to call on well-known female athletes to take a stance on this issue because silence is complicity…we need their voices,” she said via Twitter.
So far she called out Venus and Serena Williams, former tennis champions, and Ronda Rousey, a former UFC and Strikeforce Bantamweight champion. She also reached out to Angel Reese, reigning NCAA basketball champion of the LSU Tigers, and Caitlin Clark, runner-up of the NCAA basketball title from the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Who is Riley Gaines?
In 2019, Riley Gaines quickly took off in the sport of swimming and played a major part on the University of Kentucky swim team. She is a twelve-time All-American and has won several other accolades. Riley was selected into the All-SEC Freshmen team in 2019. She got selected for the second team the following year and All-SEC first team in 2021. Gaines came 2nd in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay and 7th in the 200-meter freestyle race.
Thank you, @Riley_Gaines_, for standing up to protect women’s sports.
We need more fighters like you! pic.twitter.com/PytFpqzrD7
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) May 1, 2023
She graduated from Kentucky in 2023 and planned on pursuing a possible career in dentistry. But her career was taken off course for a brief moment after the recent atrocities that have taken place between female and transgender athletes.
Riley Gaines was attacked by transgender activists
During the 2023 NCAA Championship, Riley Gaines tied fifth place with Lia Thomas. The latter was allowed to hold the trophy for “photo purposes” while she wasn’t. Gaines is completely against the idea of allowing biologically male trans-athletes to compete in the women’s division. She brought to light the recent change in making locker rooms unisex not only allows trans-athletes to utilize them but also legally allows men to walk in as well.
Riley claimed that trans-athletes could dominate the women’s division while barely cracking the qualifying positions. Which in certain circumstances was true in Thomas’ case. However, Gaines claimed she was attacked by transgender and LGBTQ+ activists during her visit to San Francisco State University. They allegedly physically assaulted and harassed her.
