Riley Gaines Says U.S. Engaged in 'Spiritual Warfare' Over Trans Athletes

A former competitive swimmer who has become a figurehead for the movement to keep those identifying as transgender women out of female sports has said the debate was a matter of "spiritual warfare" and "moral versus evil."

Speaking at conservative political action group Turning Point U.S.A.'s Young Women's Leadership Summit at the weekend, Riley Gaines, a former swimmer for the University of Kentucky, was critical of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and said athletic directors as well as athletes were being "silenced."

Since tying with transgender athlete Lia Thomas in the 2022 200-yard NCAA freestyle, Gaines has campaigned against trans inclusion in women's categories in sport, arguing those with biologically male bodies have an unfair advantage over biological women.

While some say that excluding transgender athletes from women's categories is discriminatory, others say that such inclusion was itself prejudicial as it meant biological women were less likely to achieve highly.

"Trans people belong in sports. Policies must begin with the presumption of full inclusion & provide a pathway for participation in all levels of sports," tweeted Zooey Zephyr, trans State Rep. in Montana.

The debate has become a serious concern for sporting bodies around the world, who have the tough task of accommodating the wishes of the two underrepresented groups.

Gaines repeated claims at the Turning Point conference that after tying with Thomas for 5th place—which she said was "kind of impressive"—the NCAA decided to give the trophy to Thomas.

When Gaines first made the claims, the NCAA did not comment publicly. However, in a tweet, she claimed the organization in October updated its rules regarding ties so that the older athlete takes the trophy on the day. According to the NCAA website, it updates its swimming and diving rules every two years.

Thomas told ESPN that "trans women competing in women's sports does not threaten women's sports as a whole."

"Myself, being a Christian, I entirely see this as spiritual warfare," Gaines told the Young Women's Leadership Summit audience. "It's no longer good versus bad, or right versus wrong, this is moral versus evil.

"And I looked this evil in the eyes in San Francisco, and it's soulless, it's hateful, it's vengeful, it's violent—and I think it's ironic, they do it in the name of love," she added. "They do it in the name of compassion, and tolerance, and acceptance and welcoming—and all of these different terms. But it is not that; it is none of those things. Our argument is rooted in love."

When Gaines previously spoke at another Turning Point event in April on the San Francisco State University campus, she was chased and verbally abused by protesters, video footage shows. She alleged that one of the protesters hit her twice.

The debate around transgender inclusion has often become heated, with both sides facing incendiary remarks and threats of violence. Some transgender activists have distanced themselves from "extreme" rhetoric.

Gaines claimed that at an NCAA conference in January linked to the organization's Woman of the Year award, for which she and Thomas were nominated, she had tried to buy a booth twice but was each time "denied."

"I'm offering to give them $2,000 dollars," she said. "When I came up with an alias, they were like 'of course we'll take your two grand.'"

Newsweek approached the NCAA via email for comment on Monday.

While at the conference, Gaines said she passed out pamphlets on Title IX, a statute passed by Congress in 1972 prohibiting exclusion on the basis of sex from federally-funded education programs and activities.

There is disagreement over whether the wording of the statute protects transgender athletes from being discriminated against: while the Obama administration interpreted it as offering protections according to gender identity, others including the Donald Trump administration interpreted it according to a strict definition of biological sex.

In April, the Biden administration issued a new rule which stipulated that transgender athletes could not be "categorically" banned, but that in some competitive athletic environments, transgender participation may be limited.

"Every single athletic director who walked by [said]: 'Thank you for what you're doing. Keep fighting. We support you,'" Gaines recalled. "And this was great the first 60-or-so [times], but then as it continued I began to ask: 'That's great that you support this, but would you say so publicly?' 'Oh no, we can't have lawsuits. I have a family to feed; I can't lose my job.'"

She added: "So it's not just the athletes that are silenced."