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‘Fighting for women to lose’: Riley Gaines slams Megan Rapinoe and Billie Jean King for supporting trans athletes in women’s sports

Riley Gaines called Megan Rapinoe and Billie Jean King 'hypocrites' for advocating for trans athletes in women's sports

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Swimmer Riley Gaines called out Megan Rapinoe once again, suggesting the soccer player and Billie Jean King are now “actively fighting for women to lose those opportunities” by providing support to participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports. Gaines, who was attacked by trans activists last week, also condemned her fellow female athletes for being “hypocrites.”

“The feminists who you would think would say something like Megan Rapinoe and Billie Jean King, who was a trailblazer for Title IX and for women to have the opportunity to play at that level, I can tell you what they're saying,” Gaines said while discussing trans women in sports with Outkick's Dan Dakich on 'The Don't @ Me Show.' “They're both actively now fighting for women to lose those opportunities. And exactly as you just mentioned, it doesn't make sense. The double standard, the hypocrisy of it all,” she added.

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Gaines’ latest comments comes after she dubbed Rapinoe a “faux feminist” and said she would “genuinely shiv any male who tried to take her spot on the US Women’s National Team” in a tweet posted on Tuesday, April 11. The tweet came in response to Rapinoe's March 8 post which suggested that H.R. 734 was claiming to “protect women's sports” by “pushing a trans & intersex ban.” In her original tweet, Rapinoe said “women's sports need protection from unequal pay, sexual abuse & lack of resources, NOT from trans kids.”

‘These women don't understand what's at stake’

Gaines doubled down on her criticism of Rapinoe and the 40 athletes who signed a petition opposing federal anti-trans sports ban. “Megan Rapinoe spent years whining about not having equal pay, and fighting to get that, and now actively doing the opposite and hoping women lose out on chances and don't get to dream in the same way that she did,” the swimmer told Outkick’s ‘The Don't @ Me Show.’

“All 40 of these [female] athletes who signed on this petition fighting for male inclusion into women's sports, none of them would've had the opportunity to achieve what they achieved, to be in the same place that they are without the women's sporting category, without Title IX,” she continued. “These women don't understand what's at stake... why aren't we looking at how this affects women? Why are we totally neglecting our feelings, and our safety, and our privacy and our dignity, and our fairness?” Gaines questioned.

The letter signed by 40 professional athletes sent to House of Representatives legislative directors on Monday, April 10, said, “We believe that gender equity in sport is critical, which is why we urge policymakers to turn their attention and effort to the causes women athletes have been fighting for decades, including equal pay, an end to abuse and mistreatment, uneven implementation of Title IX, and a lack of access and equity for girls of color and girls with disabilities, to name only a few,” Sports Illustrated reported.

Both Rapinoe and King opposed the H.R. 734, the Protection of Girls and Women in Sports Act. The bill was first proposed by Greg Steube, Republican congressman for Florida, with the aim to ensure that biological men would compete against one another, and not against women like previously done by transgender woman athlete Lia Thomas, among others. The bill would result in the amendment of Title IX, a civil rights law which protects the marginalization of women in sports and currently reads, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

‘A matter of playing where is fair’

Despite her strong criticism of female athletes who are supporting the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports, Gaines said she believes trans athletes should be allowed to play but in a manner which is “fair” and “safe.” She said, “Of course, they should be able to play sports, but it's a matter of playing where is fair and where is safe. I think that means competing with your biological sex but even in some sports having a trans league. I don't know how realistic it really is, but it's a way everyone can be embraced.” The former University of Kentucky swimmer also mentioned that she will continue to fight for equality in women’s sports despite physical threats in the wake of getting attacked in San Francisco State University.

“I would take a right hook for Mike Tyson if it meant defending women and girls rights and spaces. It doesn't this doesn't deter me,” Gaines said. “It doesn't make me want to be quiet. It doesn't make me want to hide. I'm actually at Liberty University last night. And tonight I'm going to James Madison University because I believe it's so important to talk to this demographic,” she added. “People my age, people who are in this younger generation, they're the ones who need to hear it clearly, as I've seen in San Francisco. And so this does not make me want to shut my mouth and kindly smile and allow men to take over. It does quite the opposite,” the swimmer concluded.