Swimmer-turned-activist Riley Gaines has claimed that soccer player Megan Rapinoe would violently defend her spot on the US national team if a transgender woman tried to take her place.
Gaines swam to join the University of Kentucky and leave college in 2022 as “one of the most decorated swimmers in the history of the program,” according to the UK website. She became a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and five-time SEC champion.
Gaines competed against Leah Thomas, a transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer in the NCAA Championships in March 2022, and said the racing experience for Thomas — who competed in the men’s competition through 2019 — felt like going into the race with my hands tied behind my back. behind.’
Since then, she’s become an outspoken campaigner against allowing trans women to compete against biological women, bullied at San Francisco State University on April 7, and appeared Tuesday night on The Piers Morgan Show to discuss her activism.
Gaines was asked about Rapinoe, who said in June that she has no problem with trans women in sports.
On Tuesday, Riley Gaines spoke to Piers Morgan about her activism against trans women in sports
Gaines (R) competed against Lia Thomas in NCAAW swimming in March 2022
“Show me the proof that trans women get scholarships for everyone,” Rapinoe said.
I’m sorry, that doesn’t happen. So we have to start from the inclusion period. And as things turn out, I have confidence that we can find out.
Last week, Gaines called Rapinoe a “fake feminist” and implied that she and longtime feminist Billie Jean King were being hypocritical for opposing a ban on biological men in women’s sports.
“If you’ve ever watched Megan Rapinoe play, she’s a very strong, aggressive player,” Rapinoe told Morgan.
So I can’t tell you what she would have done, but I can tell you exactly what I think she would have done.
“I think she would really miss someone if a male tried to take her place.”
Gaines said Rapinoe, who was pictured, was a “very tough and aggressive player” and would not accept the expulsion of a transgender woman from the US national team.
Rapinoe, who was seen on April 15, has 199 caps and aims to reach 200.
Gaines said Rapinoe, 37, has nothing to lose by welcoming trans women into sports, falsely claiming that Rapinoe has retired.
Her fiancée, basketball player Sue Bird, retired last year and Rapinoe joked that she was jealous, but Rapinoe is still on the national team, playing for the Seattle-based OL Reign.
“She’s done playing, she has nothing to lose, she has no daughter to defend — what has she to lose by virtue cues?” Gaines asked.
Indeed, it is not very pleasant to ask a girl to share a dressing room with fully equipped male parts.
“It is not universal to ask a woman to smile and step aside, so that a man can take her place and honor her.”
Gaines said she supported Joe Biden’s planned policy, which would allow high schools the power to ban transgender athletes from competition.
Thomas was unsurprisingly critical of Biden’s proposal.
Leah Thomas was quoted as saying, you know, “It breaks my heart to see trans kids lose out on opportunities.” Gaines told Morgan.
Replace that with the word woman – does it still break Thomas’ heart to see women miss out on opportunities?
Because this is exactly what happens. In my experience competing against Leah Thomas at the National Championships, I’ve witnessed first-hand women lose chances.
I’ve watched women not become all-American, losing the eighth and sixteenth places by one place because they were displaced by a man.
“This, of course, goes against everything Title IX was created to protect and now we have the Biden administration, the people in the White House, actively working to rewrite Title IX.”
Title IX, enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 now states: ‘No person in the United States shall be excluded, on account of sex, from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or discriminated against in any education. A program or activity that receives federal financial assistance.
It was introduced as a way to protect and provide greater opportunities for women in sports, among other things.
Gaines’ activism was discussed Friday night on The Bill Maher Show, and was criticized by Democratic Rep. Katie Porter.
Porter noted that Gaines used the incident as a way to “get likes and clicks”.
“When you watched this again, you couldn’t help but laugh,” Gaines told Morgan on Tuesday.
Leah Thomas is seen in the ESPN segment describing how moving on was her only option
Texas-born Thomas plays for the University of Pennsylvania
Thomas became the first mobile athlete to win an NCAA Division One Championship title
Gaines was seen marching in January of this year outside an NCAA convention in San Antonio
“Just like you mentioned, it’s ridiculous.” Women have always fought against women’s sexual spaces and rights. It blows my mind, but I greatly appreciate you and Bill standing up for myself because you hit the nail in the head.
I speak on behalf of every female athlete, not just myself.
I’m done with the competition. This is not about me.
But I know what’s at stake if someone doesn’t use their voice. I have a younger sister. I just got married. I can only one day have a daughter and I can’t imagine being in this situation and not fighting for her.
But I’m also fighting for the current female players — even fellow Lea Thomas, whose voices have been suppressed. They see what happens to me when I go to San Francisco State and they don’t want to put themselves in a position where speaking out will earn them that.
“So, it’s a lot bigger than just me, but seeing Rep. Katie Porter say it clearly shows that she didn’t know anything about what I’d been up to in the last year. There was nothing to advance personally.
It wasn’t anything for cash value to me. I was supposed to be in dental school this year. So, in no way did I feel ready to do what I’m doing.
“It’s not about me, and hearing her say that showed her true ignorance.”
Before appearing on Morgan’s show, Gaines used Twitter to criticize Thomas’ comments on Title IX, suggesting her attitude was “selfish” and showed “a complete disregard for women.”
Thomas’ competition as a woman has been highly controversial.
The swimmer had hoped, upon graduation, to bid to host the 2024 Paris Olympics – but that now seems unlikely given new rules requiring transgender athletes to transition before the age of 12, by June 2022.
Gaines, who studied public health and is now starting dental school, has become one of the most outspoken advocates against trans women in sports.
Whether they have different lung capacity, height, testosterone levels whether or not they use testosterone blockers – this does not preclude puberty as a male. Especially for Leah, who swam for three years as a male, Gaines told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson in April 2022.
“Lia Thomas has shown extreme selfishness and a huge lack of awareness – and a complete disregard for women.”
Gaines said Thomas’ participation in women’s team swimming is part of a broader problem in society.
“We are watching the denial of the simplest facts,” she said.
When you can’t identify what a woman is, there’s a big problem.
This is more than just a sport. This is a systematic erasure of what a woman is.
