“We were looking for the adults in the room to stand up for us.” Those are the words former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines used to express her feelings as a young female NCAA collegiate athlete when her sport was invaded by a man parading as a woman.
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Will Thomas made national headlines and garnered media attention during the 2021-2022 swim season when he “transitioned” to “Lia” and began competing on the women’s swim team rather than the men’s, shattering records along the way.
Though Gaines and Thomas were swimming for different universities, their paths intersected at the NCAA Division 1 swimming and diving championships in Atlanta, Georgia, in March 2022.
Gaines and Thomas squared off in the 200 freestyle, where they tied for fifth place.
Thomas competed in other events, one of which was the 500 freestyle, which he won, making him the first male to win an NCAA Division 1 title in the women’s category.
Speaking out
The Stand attended a recent event in Tupelo, Mississippi, hosted by Governor Tate Reeves (R), where Gaines discussed what finally compelled her to push back against the insanity and why she is so passionate about the issue.
“I saw what was at stake,” the five-time SEC champion told attendees. “I saw how we became collateral damage in the process of this, and it sparked a passion inside of me.”
But Gaines’ tipping point stemmed from the events that transpired after she and Thomas tied in the 200-freestyle event.
“What thrusted me over the edge,” Gaines explained, “was when the NCAA official looked at me and Thomas, who was towering over me at 6-foot-4, and said, ‘Great job, you two, but you tied. And we only have one trophy, so we’re going to give this trophy to Lia. Sorry, Riley, but you don’t get one.’
“I was so taken aback by this,” Gaines recalled. “Wasn’t this what Title IX was passed to prevent? And I asked a question that no one dared ask all season.”
In retrospect, Gaines said the question had been asked, just not publicly for fear of the backlash.
“We asked it amongst ourselves, secretly to our parents, whispering to our teammates, walking on eggshells,” she recalled.
Gaines questioned why the NCAA official was presenting the trophy to a man who had won in a women’s event. She explained that the official did not have an answer.
“They didn’t give him a script of what to say,” Gaines noted. “And so, his face visibly saddened, his eyes sunk in; I could tell he didn’t even believe what he was about to tell me.”
The official had been advised when pictures were being taken that Thomas was to have the trophy.
“You can pose with this one, but again, you go home empty-handed,” the official told Gaines. “Lia takes the trophy home. End of story.”
Gaines could be silent no more.
“All season, I knew the unfair competition was wrong. I knew the locker room, the silencing; I knew all of that was wrong,” she said. “But when they reduced everything we had worked our entire lives for down to a photo-op to validate the feelings and the identity of a male at the expense of our own, that’s when I was done waiting for someone else.”
Gaines described how she and other women who shared her views were hoping someone would advocate for their safety and their rights.
“We thought someone else would stick up for us,” Gaines said. “We thought surely a coach would. Or surely a dad would come down there and yank this man out of our locker rooms. We were waiting for someone who was supposed to be protecting us to protect us.”
But that protection never came.
“It wasn’t until I had this realization that we as female athletes, we as women, we were expecting someone to save us, but we weren’t even willing to save ourselves,” Gaines confessed. “We were standing on that podium smiling and applauding. We all knew it was wrong, but what were we applauding?
“We were applauding our own erasure, our own demolition,” she added. “And that’s when I realized it had to come from us as girls, as female athletes, as women.”
No tolerance from the tolerant
Gaines discussed the backlash she and others who have spoken out have received simply for daring to advocate for privacy in women’s areas of undressing, equal opportunities, and safety in women’s sports and spaces.
Those on the other side of the aisle claim their message is one of love, tolerance, and inclusion, but that has not been Gaines’ experience.
“That is not what I have been met with,” she explained. “I’ve been met with vitriol, vengeance, violence, and pure hatred. It’s really evil. It’s soullessness. And I’ve looked that evil in the eyes.”
One particularly harrowing experience Gaines shared was a speaking engagement at San Francisco State University, where she was physically assaulted by men wearing women’s clothing, had to be taken to a room by campus police for safety, and was held for hours while protesters demanded a ransom for her release.
A unifying issue
Despite the overt attacks, Gaines said what she is advocating for is really a unifying issue.
“The support is tenfold anything negative,” she said.
She asserted that by only watching the news or observing how politicians are voting, one would assume the issue is really divisive and falls entirely on party lines.
However, Gaines claimed that is not the case. She explained that when mothers and fathers hear about her being forced to change in the locker room with a male, they imagine their own daughter in that same scenario, and they know it is wrong.
“We’ve formed allies that I never would have imagined would have agreed with us on a lot of these cultural issues,” Gaines said.
Trust the Lord
Gaines believes the issue boils down to being asked to deny reality.
“They are asking us to deny objective truth – man and woman,” Gaines said. “That’s the essence of humanity, and they’re asking us to deny that.”
To be strengthened for the fight, Gaines urged people to put their faith in the Lord, with the reminder that Scripture warns that a time will come when bitter will be called sweet, darkness will be called light, and evil will be called good.
“That’s the time we’re living in,” Gaines said. “It’s crucial to put your faith in the Lord. We know Who wins this, which is why I can look that evil in the eyes and not back down. I’m not scared of it. We have an audience of One, and we know Who that is.”
Editor’s note: Gaines is currently serving as an advisor and spokeswoman with Independent Women’s Voice, a women’s advocacy organization. She recently spoke at an event in Mississippi, where she discussed advancing statewide legislation to ensure protection for women’s spaces, privacy, and opportunities. Her comments in this story were taken from that presentation.
