As President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to grant men claiming to be female the right to compete as women in women’s sports, one of the women who lost to trans swimmer Lia Thomas, Riley Gaines, is speaking out against Thomas’ plea for the administration to follow through.
In an Instagram video released Tuesday, Thomas — a mediocre men’s swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania under the name Will Thomas who began winning big after he began hormone treatments and qualified under NCAA rules to compete as a woman — said “it breaks my heart to see trans kids lose out on opportunities” in states that ban men and boys from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
In the video, Thomas said swimming had given him “so many opportunities to learn, grow and connect with my peers — opportunities that I wouldn’t have gotten if I didn’t have access to athletics.”
Which, of course, he still had — even after he became a lightning rod for trans rights by meeting rules for “transitioning” to female under NCAA guidelines, causing controversies even among his female teammates at UPenn.
Numerous states have acted to ban boys and men from competing in girls’ and women’s sports at the school level. The Biden administration is preparing to do away with this by having the Department of Education amend Title IX to eliminate those bans — something Thomas is supporting in a major way.
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Gaines, a former All-American swimmer for the University of Kentucky, tied Thomas for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA women’s championships — and watched as the sole trophy was given to a man.
She has become one of the most vocal and visible critics of the transgender athletic agenda. Appearing on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show Tuesday, she said the flawed logic in Thomas’ video was revealing if you replaced just one little word in her heart-rending plea.
“The first sentence you said, I believe it was, Lia Thomas quoted, saying, ‘It breaks my heart to see trans kids lose out on opportunities,'” Gaines said. “You’re exactly right. Replace that with the word ‘woman.’
“Does it still break Thomas’ heart to see women lose out on opportunities? Because that’s exactly what’s happening.”
She continued, “From my experience competing against Lia Thomas at the [NCAA] national championships, I watched firsthand women lose out on opportunities.”
“I watched women not become All-Americans, missing … that eighth and 16th place by one place because they were displaced by a male.
“This, of course, goes against everything that Title IX was created to protect — and now we have the Biden administration, the people in the White House who are actively working to rewrite Title IX.”
“Lia Thomas said ‘it breaks my heart to see trans kids lose out on opportunities’…
“Replace that with the word ‘woman’. ”
Riley Gaines speaks out about her former swimming competitor’s comments on trans inclusion in sports.@Riley_Gaines_ | @piersmorgan | @TalkTV | #PMU pic.twitter.com/KIPAfarafX
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) April 18, 2023
In March 2022, Thomas became the first man to win a NCAA Division I women’s swimming title, taking the 500-yard freestyle by over two seconds ahead of the runner-up. In the preliminaries, according to Swim World, he beat the second-place competitor by over three seconds — the same amount of time that separated finishers Nos. 2-11.
Thomas is unarguably the foremost object lesson in why transgender men shouldn’t compete in women’s sports — and yet he’s hailed for his bravery. ESPN even celebrated him with a profile during Women’s History Month.
Meanwhile, this is the treatment Gaines received at San Francisco State University this month for simply daring to speak the truth about the biological advantage men have in women’s sports, no matter what treatments they’ve undergone:
WARNING: The following videos and tweets contain vulgar language that some viewers will find offensive.
?LEFTIST? pours drink all over iPad in opposition to @TPUSA bringing @Riley_Gaines_ to @SFSU!‼️
??♀️KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS!??@tpusastudents @charliekirk11 #SaveWomensSports #WhatIsAWoman #TPUSA #TurningPointUSA #SFSU pic.twitter.com/Qw87lmPaR9
— David Llamas (@davidllamas_) April 5, 2023
The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU…I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man. This is proof that women need sex-protected spaces.
Still only further assures me I’m doing something right. When they want you silent, speak louder. ?️ pic.twitter.com/uJW3x9RERf
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 7, 2023
Protesters hang a flag and start chanting “go the fuck home” as Riley Gaines hides in HSS room 325. Protesters wait for her to come out pic.twitter.com/2PkiapnzvJ
— Golden Gate Xpress (@GGXnews) April 7, 2023
Protesters yell at SFPD as more policemen join the guards guarding the room where Riley Gaines has taken shelter at 8:47 p.m. pic.twitter.com/h8NvQwQmMq
— Golden Gate Xpress (@GGXnews) April 7, 2023
Meanwhile, people like California Democrat Rep. Katie Porter have come out against Gaines, claiming she’s only doing this “for likes and clicks” — something the swimmer finds ironic.
“You just can’t help but laugh,” Gaines told Morgan.
“It’s always women fighting against women’s sex-protected spaces and rights. It blows my mind. … I’m speaking for every female athlete, not just myself,” she continued.
“I’m done competing. This isn’t about me. But I know what’s at stake if someone doesn’t use their voice.”
“I’m done competing. This isn’t about me. But I know what’s at stake if someone doesn’t use their voice.”
Riley Gaines responds to Katie Porter’s accusation that she’s speaking out on women’s sport “for likes and clicks”.@Riley_Gaines_ | @piersmorgan pic.twitter.com/rRJJG7hOPN
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) April 18, 2023
Alas, this is what happens when the truth becomes so inconvenient that lies become laws.
The Biden administration isn’t going to back down in the face of evidence or opposition.
However, a lie doesn’t become truth just because it becomes a law.
Too often, conservatives forget this and abandon culture war issues they believe are lost. This is why, now more than ever, we need the Riley Gaineses of the sporting world to step up for what they know is right.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
