Riley Gaines Feared for Her Life After Speaking Out Against Lia Thomas

Former college athlete Riley Gaines told Newsweek she feared for her life after speaking out over the participation of transgender women, whom she considers to be biological males, in women's sports.

The swimmer, who hosts the Gaines for Girls podcast for sports media website OutKick, said she was physically assaulted, stalked and abused after becoming one of the most prominent campaigners against the inclusion of transgender athletes in female sporting competitions.

In 2022, Gaines, then a University of Kentucky student, tied for fifth place with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship. Thomas also won the 500-yard NCAA freestyle competition, making them the first transgender athlete in any sport to win a Division I national championship.

Angered by the experience, which included sharing a changing room with Thomas, Gaines became politically active and has since taken her campaign against transgender inclusion in women's sport to university campuses, Congress and state legislatures. During an appearance at San Francisco State University in April 2023, Gaines was chased and abused by protesters, whom she claimed also hit her and barricaded her in a room for several hours.

Asked by Newsweek whether she feared for her life Gaines replied: "Definitely. I've been in situations now where in the case of San Francisco I was physically assaulted, I was held for ransom for four hours by these protesters, I've been spit on, I've had drinks poured on me, glass bottles thrown at me, I've been called the most obscene things you can imagine, I've had drones flying above my house, people showing up to my house, people staking outside my hotel room when they find out where I'm staying, so absolutely.

"At first it did really scare me, but I realized pretty quickly actually that that's exactly what they're trying to do—scare me and scare me into silence...even in the face of fear, I feel I'm someone who's not going to back down from doing what I feel to be right and fair and moral and just."

Gaines argued that being required to change alongside transgender athletes, who may still have intact male genitalia, constitutes a form of sexual abuse.

"If you look at this at the most basic level, we were not asked for our consent, we did not give our consent yet there was a naked man taking his clothes off inches away from where we were taking our clothes off," she said. "I mean how else could you describe sexual harassment or sexual misconduct or sexual abuse?

"That's quite literally what the NCAA and other organizations and people continue to put women through. The easiest way to explain it: How can anyone dispute that that is not sexual harassment?"

Gaines believes that the treatment of female athletes over recent years amounts to sexism and misogyny.

"Speaking to my experience what I saw and what I felt was an utter disregard and disdain for us as female athletes," she said. "We were discriminated against on the basis of our sex. My stance is not anti-trans, it's very much pro-women."

She argued that if gender self-identification is allowed in sport, "we will only only see it impact one group here and that group being women. We will not see at a large scale, or at a competitive scale, women infiltrating into men's sport and becoming champions."

When contacted for comment a spokesperson for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) pointed Newsweek to comments made by Charlie Baker, the body's new president, during testimony to a Senate committee in October 2023.

He said: "I'm not going to defend what happened in 2022. I wasn't there. I was still governor of the Commonwealth. What I will say is, we have very specific rules and standards around the safety and security of all our student athletes, and anyone who hosts one of our national championships has to accept that they know what they are and then abide by them accordingly.

"I don't believe that policy would be the policy we would use today."

In a statement sent to Newsweek, the National Center for Transgender Equality argued that not allowing transgender people to use the facilities that match their gender identity is a form of discrimination and puts them in physical danger.

"Transgender youth are at increased risk of assault and other forms of harm when forced to use facilities with members of a different gender than the one that they live as every day," it said.

"Banning transgender students from freely and safely accessing public places, like bathrooms and changing rooms, sends the message that transgender children do not belong. Transgender students simply want to live freely and authentically as themselves, just like every other student."

Update 2/15/24, 2:30 a.m. ET: This story has been updated following contact with an NCAA spokesperson.