Former President Trump has made protecting women’s sports from transgender inclusion a key campaign issue two weeks ahead of the election. Trump and Republican leaders have pounded Democrats for enabling transgender athletes in women’s sports in recent weeks, and that criticism continued Wednesday during a campaign event in Georgia.
Former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines emerged on stage at the Turning Point Action conference to precede Trump and gave a harrowing recollection of her experience being forced to share a locker room with a transgender competitor during her collegiate career.
“I could share the grotesque details of what it was like being forced to undress, inches away from a 6-foot-4 man who watched us strip down to nothing, while he did the same, exposing his fully-intact naked male body,” Gaines said. “There are no words to describe the violation and the betrayal, the humiliation that we felt.”
Gaines leads a lawsuit against the NCAA with other female athletes, accusing the governing body of violating their Title IX rights due to its policies on gender identity. Gaines has cited her experience at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships when transgender woman Lia Thomas was allowed to compete and share a locker room with the other athletes despite being a biological male.
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Gaines reiterated that this was not something she nor her teammates ever agreed to.
“Nobody asked for our consent. We did not give our consent to be exposed and exploited to a naked man. This used to rightfully be labeled as sexual harassment,” Gaines said.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, details the shock Gaines and other swimmers felt when they learned they would have to share a locker room with Thomas at the championships in Atlanta. It documents a number of races they swam with Thomas, including the 200-yard final in which Thomas and Gaines tied for fifth but Thomas, not Gaines, was handed the fifth-place trophy.
OutKick’s Riley Gaines with a split image of a transgender flag (Getty Images)
For Gaines, the experience has played into her decision to support Trump and Republican policies that restrict and aim to prevent transgender inclusion in women’s sports.
Trump and wife Melania, who has admitted to disagreeing with Republicans on issues of LGBT rights, each announced that they are opposed to letting biological males compete in girls and women’s sports. Trump has gone so far as to advocate for a ban in a recent town hall event on Fox News.
“We’re not going to let it happen,” Trump said of the issue. “We stop it, we stop it, we absolutely stop it. We can’t have it.
“You just ban it. The president bans it. You don’t let it happen. It’s not a big deal. “
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University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for fifth in the 200 freestyle finals at the NCAA swimming and diving championships March 18, 2022, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Multiple states filed lawsuits and enacted their own laws to address this issue after the Biden-Harris administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions” in April.
The administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports.
The Supreme Court then voted 5-4 in August to reject an emergency request by the Biden administration to enforce portions of that new rule after more than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued to block the Title IX changes in their own states.
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Idaho Gov. Brad Little even issued an executive order later that month to enforce the “Defending Women’s Sports Act,” which would require schools and colleges to prohibit transgender athletes in women’s sports.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Little acknowledged concern that his order could result in public schools in his state losing federal funding if Kamla Harris becomes the 47th president.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Little said. “From a national standpoint, there are radical little groups that want to implement changes in the rules that we have already. I’m confident in what we have, and we will aggressively (act), as the state of Idaho, both legally and legislatively, to protect women’s athletes and the great advances they’ve made because of Title IX.”
President Trump during a presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville Oct. 22, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Many Democrats have backed off from their support for transgender inclusion in women’s sports as Election Day nears. U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who is challenging Ted Cruz for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, has aired TV ads and statements claiming he “doesn’t want boys in girl’s sports” despite a history of cosponsoring legislation that would allow that to happen.
In June, a survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago asked respondents to weigh in on whether transgender athletes of both sexes should be permitted to participate in sports leagues that correspond to their preferred gender identity instead of their biological sex.
Sixty-five percent answered that it should either be never or rarely allowed. When those polled were asked specifically about adult transgender female athletes competing on women’s sports teams, 69% opposed it.
The United Nations released study findings that say nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of the podium because they were beaten out by transgender athletes.
The study, titled “Violence against women and girls in sports,” said that more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, totaling over 890 medals, according to information obtained up to March 30.
“The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males,” the report said.
Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
