Riley Gaines To Georgia Tech President: 'Why Didn't You Protect Me?'
On Tuesday morning, OutKick's Riley Gaines addressed the Georgia General Assembly during a Special Committee on Protecting Women's Sports. Gaines elected to use her time to read a letter that she wrote to the president of Georgia Tech, Angel Cabrera.
Gaines faced Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer formerly known as Will Thomas, at the 2022 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships.
Thomas won a national championship in swimming, becoming the first biological male to ever win an NCAA championship in women's sports.
The event took place in Atlanta, Georgia, near the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Gaines wrote a letter to Cabrera, expressing her disgust that he was part of the administration that allowed Thomas, a biological male, to not only compete against women, but allowed full access to the women's bathrooms and locker rooms.
OutKick's Riley Gaines spoke at a Georgia Assembly Special Committee on Protecting Women's Sports and read her letter to the president of Georgia Tech, Angel Cabrera.
(Getty Images)
She wanted to deliver the letter to Cabrera in person, but said that "but he declined to show up" to the Assembly meeting.
So, she decided to read the letter aloud to the lawmakers in attendance.
"There is one question that has come back to me over and over again over the last two years since I visited your campus as a 21-year-old college student in 2022: 'Why didn’t you protect me?'" Gaines began.
"There are images in my mind that I cannot erase. I wish that I could erase those images that, day after day, make me feel less safe as a woman.
"They repeat in my mind late at night when I am alone, when I am walking a city street by myself at night, whenever I’m feeling vulnerable, those images come back and the same question comes back to my mind, 'Why didn’t you protect me?'"
Riley Gaines Addresses Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera, who did nothing to stop Lia Thomas from winning NCAA National Championship
Gaines, one of the most prominent voices advocating for fairness in women's sports, has delivered her story about that fateful 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championship many times.
She and Thomas tied for fifth place in an event, and an NCAA official informed her that Thomas would get the trophy instead of her.
"This official looked at me and said, 'Riley, I am so sorry, but we have been advised as an organization that when photos are being taken, it's crucial that the trophy is in Lia's hands … You go home empty-handed. End of story.'"
Riley Gaines looks on as Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer formerly known as William Thomas, accepts a trophy at the 2022 NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving National Championship in Atlanta, Georgia.
(Getty Images)
Which is why Gaines feels so strongly about protecting other girls and women from having to go through a similar experience. That's why she fights so hard and appears in front of lawmakers, just like Tuesday morning in Georgia.
"Dr. Cabrera, you knew that a 6’4" fully-intact man was coming to compete against me, my teammates, and my competitors in the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving National Championships," Gaines continued during the Special Committee.
"Do you have a daughter? You could have stopped it, you could have at least said, ‘not here, not on the campus of Georgia Tech’ but you did not. You had the chance at the outset to bring a sane, rational, science-based, perspective to the protection of women’s sport, but you looked the other way, and you did nothing."
Gaines' message isn't just about protecting women's sports, but their spaces and privacy, as well.
As much as the pain of losing to a biological male – who had obvious physical advantages over the female competitions – hurts, it was the invasion of privacy that spurred Gaines into action.
"Your Georgia Tech officials knew a naked adult man with full male genitalia was being authorized by Georgia Tech to share a locker room with hundreds of college coeds who would themselves be naked, unable to hide, unable to protect our privacy," Gaines continued.
"This was intentional, premeditated, sexual harassment, and it happened right here, in the capitol city of the State of Georgia, just a few blocks away from the grounds of Georgia Tech.
"You allowed college women to be traumatized on your campus in this way. Why didn’t you protect me? Why didn’t you protect us?"
Since her experience in 2022, Riley Gaines has used her platform to become one of the most influential voices in the movement to protect women's sports and private spaces.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Gaines hopes that her testimony will help spur the state of Georgia into action to protect women's sports and private spaces from the invasion of biological males.
She closed her letter with a call-to-action for Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera, and all people in positions of power.
"Dr. Cabrera, if you want to redeem the past and protect women in college sports today, you can take a momentous step towards a more just future for women and for humanity," she said.
"Thousands of women across this country and hundreds of girls who dream of swimming for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and, more broadly, who dream of competing in sports at all look forward to your response."
I think we all look forward to your response, President Cabrera.