Riley Gaines says Megan Rapinoe and Billy Jean King are ‘actively fighting for women to lose’

Riley Gaines has doubled down in her criticism of Megan Rapinoe, suggesting both she and Billie-Jean King are ‘actively now fighting for women to lose those opportunities’ by supporting the participation of biological men in women’s sports.

Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer – who was attacked by trans activists last week – said Tuesday Rapinoe was a ‘faux feminist’ and would ‘shiv’ a male trying to usurp her position on a team. 

While Gaines did not experience this exact situation, she had to compete against a transgender woman – formerly the University of Pennsylvania men’s swimmer William Thomas, now known as Lia Thomas – who won the NCAA swimming title in 2022. 

Gaines hit out at both Rapinoe and King for being hypocrites, claiming they were fighting for women to lose.   

‘The feminists who you would think would say something like Megan Rapinoe…and Billie Jean King, who was a trailblazer for Title IX and for women to have the opportunity to play at that level — I can tell you what they’re saying,’ Gaines told Outkick’s Dan Dakich on The Don’t @ Me Show, regarding trans women in sports.

Riley Gaines (R) has once again strongly criticized the brazenly outspoken Megan Rapinoe (L)

Gaines critiqued the hypocrisy of tennis legend Billie Jean King who campaigned for Title IX

Gaines is a proponent of biological men not being able to compete in women’s or girls’ sports

‘They’re both actively now fighting for women to lose those opportunities. And exactly as you just mentioned, it doesn’t make sense. The double standard, the hypocrisy of it all.’

Title IX is a civil rights law which has historically protected the marginalization of women in sports since it was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. 

‘No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,’ Title IX reads. 

Both Rapinoe and King are opposed to H.R. 734, the Protection of Girls and Women in Sports Act. The bill first proposed by Republican congressman for Florida, Greg Steube, seeks to ensure biological men compete against one another, and not against women — as has been the case with transgender woman Lia Thomas, among others. 

Rapinoe, alongside several other female athletes, co-signed a letter sent to House of Representatives lawmakers Monday, according to SI. 

‘We believe that gender equity in sport is critical, which is why we urge policymakers to turn their attention and effort to the causes women athletes have been fighting for decades, including equal pay, an end to abuse and mistreatment, uneven implementation of Title IX, and a lack of access and equity for girls of color and girls with disabilities, to name only a few,’ the letter read. 

‘Megan Rapinoe spent years whining about not having equal pay, and fighting to get that, and now actively doing the opposite and hoping women lose out on chances and don’t get to dream in the same way that she did,’ Gaines continued. 

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines implied Megan Rapinoe was a hypocrite

‘All 40 of these [female] athletes who signed on this petition fighting for male inclusion into women’s sports, none of them would’ve had the opportunity to achieve what they achieved, to be in the same place that they are without the women’s sporting category, without Title IX.

‘These women don’t understand what’s at stake… why aren’t we looking at how this affects women? Why are we totally neglecting our feelings, and our safety, and our privacy and our dignity, and our fairness?’

Gaines called out the former USWNT star Tuesday by quote tweeting Rapinoe’s March 8 post which suggested the H.R. 734 was disingenuously ‘claiming to “protect women’s sports’ by pushing a trans & intersex ban.”‘ 

Rapinoe’s position on the matter is particularly intriguing given the rise of trans women such as Thomas illustrating a superior physical ability to that of biological women and the lack of biological women competing in men’s sports.

In 2015, Rapinoe was part of the then-world champion USA Women’s National Team who lost 5-2 to U15 MLS academy team, FC Dallas. 

‘What we know is how successful women’s sports have been in the face of discrimination, in the face of lack of investment in every level in comparison to men,’ Rapinoe said back in 2021. 

Similarly, King has previously described the challenges women have faced in the fight to compete and exist within sports, comparatively to men. 

‘The struggle for gender equity — in sports and beyond — continues,’ a 2022 SI article co-written by King said. ‘Today, women and girls not only have fewer sports opportunities than boys and men, but also high school girls have fewer sports opportunities than boys had in 1972.’

Rapinoe was part of the World Cup winning USWNT who lost to an U15 academy team in 2015

Rapinoe and her partner, Sue Bird (L), both signed the letter sent to the House lawmakers

Yet, King took an ostensibly contravening stance six months later in December, stating ‘Trans youth deserve to play & thrive,’ on Twitter in response to the Federal Appeals Court upholding the state of Connecticut’s policy which allows trans people to compete in athletics based upon their chosen identity. 

‘There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind,’ King said in a 2020 Women’s Sport Foundation statement. ‘I’m proud to support all transgender athletes who simply want the access and opportunity to compete in the sport they love.’

Despite her impassioned plea for females to be able to compete against each other, Gaines does not want to see trans people unable to perform athletically. 

‘Of course, they should be able to play sports, but it’s a matter of playing where is fair and where is safe. I think that means competing with your biological sex but even in some sports having a trans league. I don’t know realistic it really is, but it’s a way everyone can be embraced.’

President Joe Biden caused controversy last week after his administration proposed a ruling which would forbid schools and colleges across the U.S. from banning transgender athletes from sports which align with their identities as opposed to their biological gender.

At least 20 states, according to AP, have so far implemented bans on transgender students participating in sports consistent with their gender identity — such measures would ultimately contravene the latest Department of Education proposal, if approved.

If finalized, the proposal would become enshrined as a provision of Title IX. Though, it is certain to face a wave of challenges. 

Despite being attacked at San Francisco State University, Gaines is determined to fight for equality in women’s sports despite potential threats of physical attacks.

‘I would take a right hook for Mike Tyson if it meant defending women and girls rights and spaces. It doesn’t this doesn’t deter me,’ she told Outkick Wednesday. ‘It doesn’t make me want to be quiet. It doesn’t make me want to hide. I’m actually at Liberty University last night. And tonight I’m going to James Madison University because I believe it’s so important to talk to this demographic. 

‘People my age, people who are in this younger generation, they’re the ones who need to hear it clearly, as I’ve seen in San Francisco. And so this does not make me want to shut my mouth and kindly smile and allow men to take over. It does quite the opposite.’