'It's Demeaning': Riley Gaines, Who Tied Transgender Athlete Lia Thomas, Slams The Hypocrisy Of The Feminist Movement - It's 'A Mockery'

Former NCAA championship swimmer Riley Gaines, who tied with biological male Lia Thomas last year in the NCAA women's final, recently spoke about the hypocrisy within the modern feminist movement.

This week, Gaines sat down for an interview with Fox News focused on how her defeat to Lia Thomas has affected her view and appreciation of the feminist movement. Gaines explained that “The feminist movement has gone two directions. One of which is upholding the original meaning of feminism, which is embracing and empowering women. The other direction has gone where they’re now fighting for male inclusion in women’s sports, women’s spaces.”

Gaines' words have echoed those of many other notable figureheads, including Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., who spoke of how allowing biological males into women's sporting events undermines the efforts women have done to “develop women’s sports over the past 30 years,” per the DC Enquirer. 

Gaines has since become a spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s Forum, becoming a notable figure in its fight to keep biological men out of women's sports. From her time fighting on the frontlines to maintain integrity in women's sports, she has also begun to gain a newfound appreciation for the feminist movement and what it means to her. 

Gaines originally found the feminist movement to be aimed at dividing the sexes, with radicals pushing for the idea that women do not need men. “I never would have called myself a feminist before this,” Gaines states, however, adding, “I do now consider myself a feminist. But really, I’ve deemed it as being a modern-day feminist.”
Lia Thomas has recently appeared on a podcast called 'Dear Schuyler', where he opposed Gaines' position, stating “They’re like, ‘Oh, we respect Lia, as a woman, as a trans woman or whatever, we represent her identity, we just don’t think it’s fair.’” The male swimmer then claimed that “You can’t really have that half-support. Like, ‘I respect you as a woman here, but not here.’”

Gaines however, went against Thomas' claims, stating that “What Thomas is doing in this podcast is simply gaslighting people into feeling like they’re really wrong for feeling uncomfortable in the locker room, feeling like they should be ok with stepping aside and smiling and allowing these men to take our spots on the podium, take our titles, take our scholarships, take away our opportunities.” 

Gaines' comments rip into the hypocrisies that feminism echoes nowadays. That you need to fight for women's rights, and you need to ensure female equality, but if a man in drag wishes to take those spots you’ve fought hard for, you need to roll over and allow it in the name of fighting transphobia. 

Words like ‘Transphobia’ and ‘Homophobia’ are fundamentally just words that people want to use to guilt people into thinking they're in the wrong for asking questions about how things have progressed. There is nothing homophobic in asking why gay men want to flaunt their sexual fetishes to children. There is nothing transphobic in asking why biological men can take sporting spots and opportunities away from biological women. 

As Gaines said, “It’s demeaning. It makes a mockery of what it means to compete and practice and train as a woman.” There's nothing wrong with trying to protect the opportunities that are meant for you and people like you, and that’s exactly what Gaines advocates for.