by Kerry Dougherty
We live in a world hungry for role models for our young children. Especially girls.
I met one yesterday.
Twenty-four year old Riley Gaines. Champion athlete and accidental feminist. Poised, proud and witty. Listen to her speak for an hour and you’ll be convinced this smart and attractive dynamo can accomplish almost anything.
The White House someday? I wouldn’t be surprised.
You’ve heard of her, no doubt. She was the swimmer from the University of Kentucky who tied Lia Thomas, a 6’4” transgender competitor, for fifth place in the NCAA Women’s Championship 200-meter free style in 2022.
Even though they finished at the exact same time, event officials made sure it was the man in a tank suit who held the trophy aloft.
“Sorry, Riley. There’s only one trophy and we need Lia to hold it for the photos,” she was told as they presented the hardware for the fastest women’s collegiate swimmer to a man.
It seems that moment was her awakening.
At a fundraising luncheon for Del. Anne Ferrell Tata at the Princess Anne Country Club on Thursday, Gaines told the enthusiastic crowd of more than 200 women that her plans to go to dental school were postponed and ultimately abandoned after she found herself leading the fight to preserve single-sex spaces for females.
She now travels around the country, reminding Americans that Title IX was crafted to protect women’s spaces. Yet the Biden administration is turning it into a measure that protects men and boys. The changes, set to take place in August, actually put females at risk.
Gaines has testified before Congress and worked with state legislators to promote laws defining the term “woman” and pushing measures to protect female spaces. So far 24 states have enacted such laws. In 2023 Virginia’s House of Delegates passed a bill preventing men from competing against women in sports, but far-left Democrats in the State Senate killed it.
Of course they did.
It was during that session that Tata met Gaines and was impressed by the young activist, her story, her drive and her common sense. The delegate from Virginia Beach worked hard to pass the bill protecting Virginia’s girls and women, only to see it die.
“When I say elections matter, they really do,” Tata reminded the crowd.
Back to that infamous 2022 competition: Gaines said she knew a man would be competing in those NCAA finals, but she was shocked when she found herself “undressing with a fully intact male a few inches away.”
“I had no idea he was going to be in there,” she said.
Making matters worse, Gaines explained that the racing suits swimmers wear are “paper thin and skin tight and it takes 20 minutes to pull and prod yourself into one.”
Imagine doing that in front of a naked man. Now imagine your daughter or granddaughter forced to share that intimate changing scenario with a man.
When Tata joked that she didn’t need to hear the details, Gaines grinned and replied: “If I had to see it you have to hear about it!”
Fair enough.
After the Lia Thomas controversy, the NCAA backed away from the transgender issue. The governing organization for college sports now leaves decisions about who can compete up to the officials of each sport.
“They’re weak-kneed, spineless, morally bankrupt cowards,” Gaines said of the NCAA leadership.
Tata asked Gaines about female sports legends and how they’ve reacted to the appearance of men in athletics. She heaped praise on Martina Navratilova and Caitlin Jenner who want to keep transgendered athletes out of women’s competitions. She derided Megan Rapinoe and Billie Jean King for their support of the unfair competition.
She said it was especially discouraging that King has taken the positions she has, since she pushed for Title IX in its original form and fought for female athletes when she was playing tennis in the 1970s.
“Now she’s actively fighting for men in women’s sports,” Gaines said, shaking her head.
Gaines on the other hand, is fighting for girls. To protect their spaces and their sports.
In a world that seems overrun with shallow social media influencers and woke activists pushing a national freak show, Riley Gaines is a hero.
A real feminist. The old-fashioned kind. One who bravely stands up for females.
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