'No one protected us': Riley Gaines slams trans females competing in women's sports during House hearing
WASHINGTON (TND) — Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday about transgender participation in women's sports, calling it "awkward" and "embarrassing" to share a locker room with a transgender female.
Gaines made headlines last year when she criticized the NCAA for allowing Lia Thomas, a transgender female swimmer, to compete against her and other biological women.
"Not getting the trophy is not the issue at hand," Gaines told WCHS, a TND affiliate, at the time. "It's how the NCAA treated me and all female athletes when presented with a difficult situation. They put all female athletes on the back burner to protect such a small minority of people and to save face in hopes of not receiving backlash."
Transgender activists have reacted fiercely to Gaines's comments, ultimately culminating in Gaines allegedly being "ambushed" and assaulted while atSan Francisco State University (SFSU) for a speaking engagement last month.
Gaines doubled down on her concerns during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday.
"[Transgender women competing in women's sports] sends the message that we don't matter. That our feelings, our safety, our privacy, it doesn't matter. We should smile and step aside and allow these men into our spaces or you are a bigot," Gaines said to lawmakers.
Gaines also commented on the incident atSFSU, recounting her experience and slamming university administrators who "do not condemn violence and kidnapping on their campus."
"After a while, some of these protesters began to demand a ransom for my release," Gaines alleged during the hearing. "They had asked for payment and threatened not to safely release me without it."
The Biden administration recently issued a new Title IX proposal that would prevent public schools from outright banning transgender females from participating in girls' and women's sports. The move stirred anger from both sides of the political aisle, with conservatives continuing to push for athletic participation based on biological sex and many liberals saying the proposal doesn't go far enough.
"Absolutely no reason for the Biden admin to do this. It is indefensible and embarrassing," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said. "The admin can still walk this back, and they should. It’s a disgrace."