Riley Gaines entered the national spotlight in March 2022 at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.
As a senior at the University of Kentucky, she tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.40. Her competitor in that tie was Lia Thomas (born William Thomas), a biological male who had "transitioned" and joined the University of Pennsylvania women's team after three years on the men's squad.
Officials awarded the fifth-place trophy to Thomas alone. Gaines received a sixth-place trophy for the photo opportunity. This moment ignited her resolve. Gaines later described the injustice as a wake-up call. She saw firsthand how the NCAA's policies erased women's achievements to appease a fringe ideology.
In the immediate aftermath, Gaines spoke out about the privacy violations in locker rooms. Thomas changed alongside female athletes without warning or consent.
Gaines and her teammates felt violated, their spaces invaded by a man under the guise of inclusion. This experience transformed Gaines from a decorated swimmer, an NCAA All-American who helped Kentucky win SEC titles, into an activist.
She joined forces with the Independent Women's Forum in April 2022 to amplify her voice on the matter.
On January 12, 2023, Gaines led a demonstration outside the NCAA convention in San Antonio, Texas. She gathered about two dozen supporters to demand policy changes. They presented a petition with nearly 10,000 signatures calling for the exclusion of transgender athletes from women's divisions. Gaines warned the NCAA of potential legal action if it continued discriminating against biological (real) women.
The hostility escalated in April 2023 at San Francisco State University. After delivering a speech on campus about protecting women's sports, Gaines faced a mob of protesters. They ambushed her, chased her down a hallway, and held her hostage in a classroom for three hours. Demonstrators pounded on doors, shouted threats, and demanded ransom for her release.
Police eventually escorted her out, but the incident highlighted the violent underbelly of the trans movement. Gaines refused to back down. She filed a police report and continued her tour, turning the attack into fuel for her message.
By June 2023, Gaines testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C.
She detailed the physical advantages biological males hold in sports, citing studies on muscle mass, bone density, and lung capacity. Gaines argued that allowing men in women's competitions destroys fairness and endangers athletes. Her testimony resonated with conservatives who saw the trans agenda as an attack on biological reality.
In 2024, Gaines went even further. She published her book, "Swimming Against the Current," on May 21, telling the story of her fight and calling out the left's attempt to erase the difference between men and women. That March, she joined 15 other female athletes in suing the NCAA for violating Title IX by letting men compete as women, creating hostile environments and denying women a fair shot.
Then, finally, on July 2, 2025, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to strip Lia Thomas of all records and titles under pressure from the Trump administration's Department of Education.
Gaines celebrated this as a major victory on social media, thanking President Donald Trump for enforcing Title IX as intended. She continued speaking at rallies, including events with conservative groups like Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
In 2026, the Supreme Court agreed to hear United States v. Skrmetti on January 23, a case challenging Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors with broader implications for transgender policies in sports. Gaines hailed the decision as a huge win for women and girls nationwide.
She posted on X, "This is a huge win for women and girls across America. The Supreme Court will finally decide if 'sex' means sex (gender) or if it means whatever the Biden administration wants it to mean."
Riley Gaines is one of the few willing to risk her own safety and privacy to stand up for the truth. At 25, she has more courage than most politicians. Her story proves that one person really can take on a corrupt system and make a difference.
The transgender agenda she fights represents pure insanity, a far-left delusion that denies basic biology and endangers real women.
Men pretending to be women in sports is erasure, a twisted ideology that lets biological males dominate female competitions, steal scholarships, and invade private spaces. This madness stems from the same evil that pushes child mutilation and gender confusion in schools. It destroys lives, confuses children, and mocks God's design for manhood and womanhood.
Every state should ban this outright. No man belongs in women's sports, locker rooms, or facilities.
Laws like Tennessee's should be enforced everywhere to protect our daughters, sisters, and wives. Riley Gaines is leading the fight, and the rest of the country needs to catch up.