6 reactions to Trump's order barring men from women's sports: 'Sex is real and matters'
3. Riley Gaines
Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines celebrated Trump’s signing of the executive order in a Thursday X post, writing: “I think I may post this photo once a week for the next four years to remind the Democrats what a leader who fights for women's rights looks like.”
In a follow-up post shared the same day, Gaines drew attention to the National College Athletics Association changing its policy concerning trans-identifying athletes due to Trump’s executive order.
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On Thursday, the NCAA announced that only female student-athletes can compete on girls’ sports teams. The policy does allow men to participate in “practice on an NCAA women's team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes.”
“I can't even begin to tell you how vindicating it feels knowing no girl will ever have to experience what my teammates and I did,” Gaines wrote. “Thank God Trump is back in office.”
Gaines has publicly shared her story about her time as a competitive swimmer for the University of Kentucky and how she was forced to swim against a man during the 2022 NCAA championships.
The male athlete, known as Will Thomas, previously competed on the men’s team at the University of Pennsylvania before he began to self-identify as a female named Lia Thomas and started swimming competitively on the women's team.
According to Gaines, the NCAA forced female athletes to compete against and undress in a locker room with Thomas, whose male genitalia was exposed. Despite tying with the male athlete for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle, Gaines says an NCAA official told her that Thomas needed to hold the trophy for photo purposes.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
