“I was hit in the face by a man dressed as a woman,” says Riley Gaines. It didn’t end there for the decorated former college swimmer for the University of Kentucky. Gaines was at San Francisco State University to speak about biological men competing in women’s sporting events when a group of activists attacked her, chanting mantras like “Trans women are women”. A group of protesters barricaded Gaines in a classroom along with campus security.
Gaines is a prominent opponent of trans women competing in the women’s division. She has experienced the phenomenon first hand. Just last year Gaines swam against Lia Thomas – a male who ‘transitioned’ in 2021 to compete for the women’s team at the University of Pennsylvania.
It was late on Thursday night when San Francisco Police finally came to the rescue and helped Gaines to safety.
Gaines has written about what happened to her in DailyMail.com.
I raced against Thomas in March 2022 in the 200 freestyle. We tied. We finished at the exact same moment down to 100ths of a second.
But after we stepped down from the awards podium, an NCAA official looked at both Thomas and me and said, “Great job, you tied. But we don’t account for ties. So, the trophy goes to Lia.”
That struck me as strange, so I questioned him. As it turns out, that may have been the first time anyone had ever questioned why Thomas received special treatment. And the official’s answer shocked me.
He said that Thomas would hold the trophy for picture purposes.
That’s when I realised that the NCAA no longer valued everything that I, my teammates and every other girl swimming that day had worked their entire lives to achieve. The goal was no longer excellence in women’s sport. The goal was virtue signaling on the backs of women.
That’s when I knew I had to speak out. I wanted to be part of a conversation about what is happening in women’s sports so that we can find a way to accommodate trans-identified athletes without marginalising or discriminating against female athletes.
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