Riley Gaines Confronted By Protesters After Speech Against Trans Participation in Women’s Sports
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who was an NCAA finalist in the 200 freestyle in 2021 and 2022, was confronted by protesters after giving a speech at San Francisco State University Thursday opposing the participation of transgender women in women’s sports.
Video of the incident shows supporters of trans inclusion harassing Gaines, shouting insults and cursing at her and chasing her down hallways, as campus police officers rushed her away from the scene into a secure area, where she remained for several hours. San Francisco Police eventually arrived to disperse the crowd and escort Gaines away, but she did not leave until midnight after the event began at 7 p.m. PT.
During the incident, Gaines said that she was “physically assaulted by one person.” She told CNN, “I was struck twice, both times hitting my shoulder with the second strike grazing my face. The rest of the protestors just ambushed and cornered me before I was able to move out with the help of campus police.”
Read the full report from CNN here.
Gaines tweeted a video of the situation, which does not show the assault but does include one protester shouting, “trans rights are human rights.” The video does contain profanity.
Gaines concluded her swimming career at the 2022 NCAA Championships, the meet where Penn’s Lia Thomas became the first trans woman to capture an NCAA title in the 500 free. The day after that race, Thomas tied for fifth with Gaines in the 200 free, and Gaines made headlines days later when she said it was “disheartening” how Thomas had received the fifth-place trophy with Gaines’ identical trophy to come in the mail. Since then, Gaines has become a political activist arguing for “protecting women’s sports” as a space for cisgender women only.
In the months before that NCAA meet, there had been extensive debate within the swimming community as to whether Thomas should have been competing in women’s events. The NCAA unveiled new guidelines to address issues of inequity with trans participation in hopes of avoiding another controversial situation in the future.
A new USA Swimming policy on transgender participation released in February 2022 included “specific guidelines… for both non-elite and elite athletes and elite events,” focusing on inclusion for non-elite athletes, allowing for transgender athletes “to experience the sport of swimming in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity and expression,” while relying on “science and medical evidence-based methods to provide a level-playing field for elite cisgender women.”
Thank you, Riley! Keep up the good fight for the safety and fairness of women’s sports! Men don’t belong in women’s locker rooms and their biological advantages cannot be mitigated by taking hormones. Gender ideology is dangerous to children and young adults. It is not ideologies that are racing in the water and in other elements but bodies! Keep Title IX in place, protect women.
title ix does not apply in this situation, these are women against women, the playing field is level, people like you are the issue
SF is the biggest cesspool on the planet. I hope she didn’t internalize anything any of them had to say. Thank you Riley, for all that you are doing for our girls. We are totally behind you.
I don’t understand the elite vs non-elite distinction. The girl trying to win a local conference championship has just as much right to fair competition as an Olympic contender.
All of this over a 5th place trophy.
Would be interesting to see some of the content in her speech.
To call it a “confrontation” is a gaslighting downplay of a woman clearly being assaulted, a victim of mob violence. Swimming World needs to fix the headline, call it what it plainly is….an assault.
The language here is very misleading. Gaines was speaking against males competing in women’s sports. Lia Thomas is male. Transgender athletes should be competing in an ‘Open’ category so that women are not unfairly forced to compete against males or testosterone-enhanced females..
This girl needs to shut up and make a career out of something other than Lia Thomas. She (Thomas) is retired and isn’t bothering anybody. Find something else to do Riley
She is not anti transgender. She is pro female athlete’s RIGHTS. She was attacked by a female hating misogynist mob. There is no inclusion when women and girls are oppressed, without a voice, and our civil and human rights are taken away to satisfy the so called rights of one group. Transwomen are male. Women and girls are females.
Riley is a courageous young woman. I admire her tremendously! Speaking up for woman’s rights should not come with personal peril. The transgender community does not help its causes by verbally and physically assaulting woman. Biology cannot be denied! Born a man always a man . The NCAA disgraced itself last year for allowing Mr. Thomas to compete against woman.
I despair for the future of young woman athletes in our country where too many of our political leaders condone this insanity!
Be safe Riley Gaines.
trans rights are women’s rights, and i believe you mean ms. thomas
Why in the world would she go to a socialist liberal college to speak. Might as well put your hand into a murder hornets nest. Sounds like the whole thing was a set up.
IT’s almost like it was painful for you to admit men hitting women is now sanctioned. All the man has to do is call himself a woman. That’s going to be awesome for all abusive males – when the police show up they can just claim to be a woman and the media will protect them.
I would think a swimming publication would be about swimming and not woke politics.
Gaines in my view is absolutely right. To my understanding she’s not in any way against transgenders. She simply wants biological females who strife and discipline themselves in a sport to compete against each other fairly. Basketball, swimming, track and field, tennis golf just to name a few. Transgenders if there biological side is male should simply complete against males or other transgenders.
They don’t belong in regulation sports.
They must have there own sports.
In my opinion. the only reason transgenders want to compete in a women’s sport is because they cannot win in a man’s sport.
this is a ridiculous idea, gender dysphoria is a recognised illness, there have also been historically zero cases when anyone has gone through invasive gender change surgery just to play in a women’s league
Go get ‘em Riley!!!
if they want to compete in any athletic events they should compete against each other, transgender men against transgender men and transgender women against transgender women!
there arent enought trans athletes for this to be possible, remember how theyre less then 1% of the population
Let me say this. As someone who was there, there was no altercation, as she describes. no one hit her and her fear is merely smoke and mirrors.