Former President Trump has made protecting women’s sports from transgender inclusion a key campaign issue two weeks ahead of the election. Trump and Republican leaders have pounded Democrats for enabling transgender athletes in women’s sports in recent weeks, and that criticism continued Wednesday during a campaign event in Georgia.
Former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines emerged on stage at the Turning Point Action conference to precede Trump and gave a harrowing recollection of her experience being forced to share a locker room with a transgender competitor during her collegiate career.
“I could share the grotesque details of what it was like being forced to undress, inches away from a 6-foot-4 man who watched us strip down to nothing, while he did the same, exposing his fully-intact naked male body,” Gaines said. “There are no words to describe the violation and the betrayal, the humiliation that we felt.”
Gaines leads a lawsuit against the NCAA with other female athletes, accusing the governing body of violating their Title IX rights due to its policies on gender identity. Gaines has cited her experience at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships when transgender woman Lia Thomas was allowed to compete and share a locker room with the other athletes despite being a biological male.
Gaines reiterated that this was not something she nor her teammates ever agreed to.
“Nobody asked for our consent. We did not give our consent to be exposed and exploited to a naked man. This used to rightfully be labeled as sexual harassment,” Gaines said.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, details the shock Gaines and other swimmers felt when they learned they would have to share a locker room with Thomas at the championships in Atlanta. It documents a number of races they swam with Thomas, including the 200-yard final in which Thomas and Gaines tied for fifth but Thomas, not Gaines, was handed the fifth-place trophy.
OutKick’s Riley Gaines with a split image of a transgender flag (Getty Images)
For Gaines, the experience has played into her decision to support Trump and Republican policies that restrict and aim to prevent transgender inclusion in women’s sports.
Trump and wife Melania, who has admitted to disagreeing with Republicans on issues of LGBT rights, each announced that they are opposed to letting biological males compete in girls and women’s sports. Trump has gone so far as to advocate for a ban in a recent town hall event .
