RILEY GAINES: When a sportswoman dies at the hands of a male-born trans athlete – will Congress STILL call me a ‘transphobe’?

Riley Gaines is a former NCAA swimmer, host of the OutKick Gaines For Girls podcast, and an ambassador for the Independent Women’s Forum.

When someone resorts to name-calling, it is usually because they know they are fighting a losing battle.

They childishly attack their opponent, instead of trying to argue with obvious facts.

But to witness and be the target of such low-level smears in Congress, the beating heart of American democracy, was especially shocking.

At a committee hearing on the impact of male involvement in women’s sports earlier this week, Democratic “squad” member Summer Lee launched an unusual preemptive attack in her opening remarks.

“We may have to listen to transphobic bigotry,” she warned blithely, as if her one-sided opinion was an undeniable truth.

I was shocked.

How dare a sitting member of Congress call those who came to speak about their own experiences and defend women’s rights as hateful bigots – despite the serious risk of death threats and physical violence.

And so, when I was finally allowed to speak, I answered.

If I was “transphobic,” then Lee’s opening monologue—defending the right of people born male to compete and take women’s sports titles—made her “misogynistic.”

It was a self-defense joke, but it was also painfully true.

Lee and the other Democrats in the room went into a tailspin.

She abruptly stopped the hearing and demanded that my response be stricken from the record—typical of the unilateral censorship demanded by trans extremists.

Should we not only be excluded from our own sport, but women should be completely excluded from the discussion?

Fortunately, Lee’s request was unsuccessful. Congressional records continue to show that she is a misogynist.

How did it come to this?

Why is it politically expedient for the left to prioritize the whims of the trans lobby – a tiny but vocal minority – over the rights of millions of women and girls in everything from sports to security in prisons, domestic violence shelters, facilities and health care facilities.

Too few are willing to take a public stand. I don’t blame people. The daily harassment I have received since I first began speaking out against trans swimmer Leah Thomas in early 2022 has been difficult to endure.

But I refuse to remain silent. I put plans to become a dentist on hold and instead dedicated myself to advocating for women for as long as it took.

Why, you might ask, should a 23-year-old woman hold our leaders accountable when so much is at stake?

Why, for example, does the world not join in comprehensive condemnation What shocking cycling podium this week?

Two men – Tessa Johnson and Evelyn Williamson – are unabashedly courageous and proudly took first and second place in the women’s single speed category at the Illinois State Cyclocross Championships on Sunday.

The only woman on the podium won bronze.

Is this what the feminist movement fought for?

Because two men on a women’s podium seem to me to be the perfect embodiment of the oppressive patriarchy that the left loves to shout about.

What hope is there for young female athletes—like I once was—who spend their entire lives training tirelessly, skipping social events, eating carefully, striving for success within a tiny window of opportunity?

How can their mothers and grandmothers look them in the eye and honestly say that hard work pays off?

Many people already know my story: Last year I tied at the NCAA Championships with 6-foot-4 Thomas, who swam on the men’s team three years ago.

I was denied the trophy and told that it was imperative that Thomas hold it in front of the cameras. Even though I reached the same time, I had to return home empty-handed.

Would I have sacrificed so much if I had known that my success would be so cruelly taken from me? Absolutely not.

But this is not just about injustice, it is about a serious threat to women’s safety.

In non-contact sports such as swimming, as in most cycling, participants stay in their lanes without putting each other at particular risk. Perhaps this is why it is so easy for hardliners like Rep. Lee to mock my testimony in Congress.

What about contact sports?

Already, alarming headlines are appearing.

In 2021, footage of trans MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin holding Celine Provost in a chokehold with Provost’s blood smeared on the floor shocked the world.

In 2022, 18-year-old Payton McNabb suffered debilitating head and neck injuries after a trans student punched her in the face during a volleyball match in North Carolina.

More than a year later, McNabb is still recovering – suffering from blurred vision and partial paralysis.

When will this be enough?

How many female athletes must suffer at the hands of biological men? If injuries like McNabb’s do not stop this march of madness, must we—God forbid—suffer death to have our cause heard?

In less than a month we will be back in the Olympic year. And as we look to Paris in July, I have no doubt that we will see many more trans athletes, such as Laurel Hubbard – the New Zealand weightlifter who competed in the women’s category at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games – taking up spots and podiums. real women.

All polls show that the vast silent majority understands and sees this madness for what it is.

To women everywhere, silence now means complicity. It’s time for us all to challenge the misogynists.