Former University of Kentucky swimmer and current political activist Riley Gaines spoke at the University of Mississippi on Tuesday, Oct. 29 in her Take Back Title IX Tour, hosted by UM’s chapter of Turning Point USA.
Turning Point USA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to identify, educate, train and organize students to promote freedom, according to its website. TPUSA has nearly 800+ collegiate chapters around the nation, and UM’s chapter was established in 2017.
Gaines used this space to share her experience competing against a transgender athlete and explained why she believes that gender division in sports should be based on one’s sex assigned at birth.
Gaines graduated from Kentucky in 2022 and was a standout swimmer for the Wildcats for four years. In the 2022 season, Gaines was ranked third in the country. At the same time, swimmer Lia Thomas from the University of Pennsylvania occupied the top spot. Thomas swam for three seasons on the men’s team before transitioning from male to female and transferring into women’s events. In the men’s competitions, Thomas had ranked in the 400s and 500s.
“For all we knew at the time, this was a senior from the University of Pennsylvania – which is not a school that has historically produced that caliber of swimmer – leading the nation by body lengths,” Gaines said. “Was this someone who went from ranking among the best of the men to now continuing to rank amongst the best of women — as if that would make this any better? But, of course, that is not what we saw.”
The controversy came to a head at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming National Championships when Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle. At the podium, Gaines was told by the official that Thomas would be allowed to keep the trophy.
“It was really in that moment on that podium, holding that trophy, sharing my placement with a man standing eight, nine inches taller than me, where I had this realization of, ‘Riley, how in the world can you expect someone to stand up for you if you’re not even willing to stand up for you?’” Gaines said.
Gaines said she lacked support from her university and peers when she wanted to speak out.
“‘You’re going to lose all your friends if you speak up about this,’” Gaines said. “They said, ‘You’ll never get a job because your employer will look up your name, and they’re going to see that you’re a transphobe, and you don’t want that.’”
Jack Behuniak, the chapter president of Turning Point USA, spoke about Gaines’ appearance at the university.
“It was an amazing experience to be able to bring a national speaker here to the University of Mississippi and have her speak in front of so many people,” Behuniak said.
The third-floor ballroom of the Gertrude C. Ford Student Union was nearly full — Behuniak sensed that much of the audience resonated with Gaines’s opinions.
“It’s important that women athletes in general feel as though they’re safe (and) that they’re allowed to compete at the highest level without ever having to play against men,” Behuniak said. “That’s why she’s here, and that’s why so many people are here to listen to her message.”
Gabriella Bush was a student who attended the event. The freshman business finance major from Walnut Creek, Calif., said that she once experienced a situation similar to Gaines’s during her high school softball career.
“I didn’t directly play against the team, but in one of the tournaments, there was a biological male playing on a team,” Bush said. “Obviously, softball is a very different sport than baseball, and men can hit harder than women. God forbid, if a ball was hit by this man, it probably would have had the potential to injure or kill a woman.”
Bush said that she has made posts on social media that are consistent with Gaines’ message and, as a result, has received threats and backlash. Yet she still thinks it is vital that everyone use their voice, albeit in a peaceful manner.
“I think it’s just important to hear both sides, whether or not you agree with it, and just be peaceful. That’s why we live in America. We have free speech,” Bush said.
Some athletes that take the opposite view of Gaines are NWSL and USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe and Former WNBA and USA Basketball star Sue Bird. They were among those who wrote to the NCAA in April of this year, urging it not to ban transgender women from competing in women’s college sports.
“The time is now for the NCAA and the nationwide athletic community to speak up and affirm that sports should be for everyone, including transgender athletes,” Rapinoe wrote in an official statement.
