Riley Gaines Calls Out Chair's Opening Statement About Transgender Youth During Senate Hearing, Says Proposed Title IX Changes Are 'An Abomination'
Riley Gaines and four other witnesses testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Wednesday as part of a hearing titled ‘Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.’
The former standout swimmer at the University of Kentucky spoke of her first-hand experience not only having to compete against Lia Thomas, a biological man, but having to share a locker room where Gaines and other female athletes were exposed to male genitalia without any consent whatsoever during the 2022 NCAA championship meet.
As expected, Gaines was pressed on her opinion that transgender athletes (biological men) have no place in women's sports but stood her ground on the issue just as she has for well over a year now as one of the leading voices for women's rights and inclusivity in sport.
Riley Gaines spoke out against transgender athletes taking rights away from women during a hearing in front of the Senate. (IMAGN/USA TODAY)
One of the most powerful moments of Wednesday's hearing came when Gaines spoke out against the chair of the committee, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois).
Sen. Durbin wasted no time at all during his opening statement to present that transgender youth were being targeted by anti-LGBTQ bills and public rhetoric.
"Our children are listening, and they are in danger, in fact today's transgender youth are the most at risk of homelessness, depression, and death by suicide...What message does it send, we have the responsibility to support all of our children no matter how they identify," Durbin said in part.
Nearly an hour after Durbin's opening remarks, Gaines was having a back-and-forth with Sen. Josh Hawley (R - MO) about her traumatizing experience of having to share a locker room with Thomas. After answering a question, Gaines looked at Sen. Durbin and pressed him on his opening comments.
"Senator Durbin, in your opening statement you had mentioned this rhetoric, you had mentioned 'what message does it send to trans individuals' and my combat to that is what message does it send to women, to young girls who are denied these opportunities? So easily their rights to privacy and safety thrown out the window to protect a small population, to protect one group as long as they're happy."
"What about us? That is the overall consensus of how we all felt inside that locker room ."
Durbin did not offer a response to Gaines' truthful and impactful remarks.
Riley Gaines Slams The Re-Write Of Title IX
Title IX and the Biden Administration trying to erase it from reality was highly discussed throughout the hearing on Wednesday as well, with Gaines labeling the situation an "abomination."
The Biden administration began rolling out new Title IX rules in April to expand the meaning of sexual discrimination to include gender identity that would prevent schools and colleges from banning transgender athletes. In other words, women's rights, especially in athletics, would be completely wiped away.
READ: RILEY GAINES: TRANSGENDER ACTIVISTS DON’T WANT EQUAL RIGHTS, THEY WANT TO TAKE WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Riley Gaines and other female swimmers were forced to share a locker room with Lia Thomas. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Speaking with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R - Tenn.) about all of the lifeskills she learned throughout her demanding journey as a college athlete, Gaines slightly went off script again with aim at the re-write of Title IX.
"The re-write of Title IX is an abomination," Gaines began. "It is equating sex to gender identity, which means that men would live in dorm rooms with women, men would have full access to changing areas, locker rooms. Men could join sororities, men could take academic and athletic scholarships away from women."
"In this new re-write it's actually sexual harassment if you misgender a trans-identified individual."
At the end of the hearing, there were two main takeaways. The first being that, for the most part, senators from both parties didn't have much interest in talking to the witnesses they did not politically align with.
The second takeaway was Gaines did a tremendous job sharing her story and opinion while being respectful to the LGBTQ community. She has been called anti-trans because she believes women shouldn't compete against biological men, but she stated on multiple occasions she doesn't have an ounce of hate inside of her towards the LGBTQ community.
Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris