Riley Gaines, a former NCAA star swimmer at Kentucky and women's sports advocate, said prominent female athletes such as Brittney Griner and Megan Rapinoe are undermining their own legacy with their support of transgender participation in women's sports.
Discussing female athletes who have come out in favor of transgender women competing against biological females, Gaines said it "doesn't make any sense" that female crusaders in sports are trying to rob other women of the opportunities they personally enjoyed.
"This is something that’s becoming a trend. We’ve seen Megan Rapinoe, Brittney Griner, Billie Jean King – we have her to credit Title IX – all of these women who fought for women's rights, equal opportunity, equal access, equal resources, equal pay, they are now undermining their fight, they are actively fighting to take away those opportunities from other women," she said Tuesday on "Fox News Tonight."
Riley Gaines, now a spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s Forum, famously tied Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200 Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships last year. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
Griner is the latest star athlete to support transgender participation in sports. The Phoenix Mercury center called it "a crime honestly to separate someone for any reason." Megan Rapinoe was among the current and former athletes who signed a letter to voice their opposition to the Protection of Girls and Women in Sports Act.
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Gaines, who emerged as an outspoken advocate on the issue since competing against Lia Thomas during the 2021-22 season, said she's been contacted by several members of the LGBTQ+ community who are opposed to transgender athletes competing against biological women, but are afraid to voice their position for fear of being labeled "transphobic."
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"I get messages all the time from people within the LGBTQ+ community, specifically the LGB community, who is so frustrated by this. These are people who call themselves lifelong liberals, yet they see the harm that women face when we're allowing males into our spaces, into our sports, into our locker rooms taking away our opportunities," she told Fox News host Lawrence Jones. "Yet exactly as you mentioned, they are fearful, they don’t want to be called transphobic, homophobic, any kind of name, label that I get thrown at me all the time. So rather, they stay quiet. That’s exactly how we’ve gotten here…it's lunacy but staying quiet, that’s how we reached this point."
SEC champion swimmer Riley Gaines speaks during the general session at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, U.S., (August 6, 2022. REUTERS/Go Nakamura)
Gaines said the issue will persist until all parties involved find the courage to speak out in defense of future female athletes.
"We need parents, we need female athletes, medical professionals, coaches, we even need male athletes, we need everyone on board here," she told Jones.
Last month, the Biden administration released a proposal to amend Title IX in order to set out a standard that would "govern a recipient’s adoption or application of sex-related criteria that would limit or deny a student’s eligibility to participate on a male or female athletic team consistent with their gender identity."
The proposed regulation also would provide needed clarity on how schools can ensure that students have equal opportunity to participate on male and female athletic teams as required by Title IX.
Megan Rapinoe #15 of OL Reign looks on against the Washington Spirit during the second half at Lumen Field on May 22, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The proposed amendment provides that any transgender athlete denied or limited the opportunity to participate in a sport that is consistent with their gender identity must be "substantially related to the achievement of an important educational objective" and "minimize harms to students."
On April 20, the House voted to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act 219-203. All the yeas came from Republicans.
Republicans defended the bill as an attempt to spare women and girls from having to compete against transgender women and girls — biological males who can sometimes dominate these sports and prevent some female athletes from making the team. Democrats argued in debate that the GOP bill is an extension of the bullying that transgender students are already facing at school.
Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.