ESPN might be trying to undermine female athletes, but former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines is not going to let it happen.
Gaines took to Twitter Sunday to speak out against ESPN’s Women’s History Month tribute to Lia Thomas — a biological male who competed on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania.
The segment painted a picture of Thomas as a pioneer for transgender athletes and praised Thomas for triumph through adversity.
But Gaines isn’t having it. Responding to OutKick’s David Hookstead, she offered her take on the video.
“Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title,” Gaines tweeted. “He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The NCAA is responsible. If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You’re spineless ESPN. #boycottESPN”
Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title. He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible.
If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You're spineless @espn #boycottESPN https://t.co/DF3n5RWsmV
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 26, 2023
And Gaines certainly would know. She had to share the podium with Thomas as the two tied for fifth in the 200 freestyle finals last year.
And to add insult to injury, the NCAA didn’t even let Gaines keep the trophy. They awarded the fifth-place trophy to Thomas and allowed Gaines to hold the sixth-place award for a photo op.
The Kentucky swimmer said an official told her, “I just want you to know that we respect you and admire your swim so much, but we just want Lia to hold the fifth-place trophy.”Standing Up For What’s Right
Riley Gaines has long been an outspoken advocate for female athletes.
Aside from the obvious biological advantage males have versus their female counterparts, women deserve their own space.
But not only did the swimmers have to share the pool with Thomas, they had to share the locker room, too.
“We did not give our consent. They did not ask for our consent. But in that locker room we turned around, and there’s a 6’4 biological man dropping his pants and watching us undress, and we were exposed to male genitalia,” Gaines told Fox News last summer.
In any other circumstance, that’s a crime. But if you’re a man claiming to be a woman, it’s somehow acceptable behavior.
“I feel like to have that kind of forced upon us — so not only were we forced to race against a male, we were forced to change in the locker room with one,” she said. “And so it’s just this feeling of like, ‘What is happening?’ Like, honestly, is this really happening? This is crazy.”
It is really happening. And it is crazy.
Gaines also appeared in an ad for Senator Rand Paul, where she gave her thoughts on the absurdity of allowing biological males to compete against females.Riley Gaines calls for a boycott of ESPN.
In Sunday’s ESPN segment, Thomas said she “hopes her persistence serves a larger purpose.”
So just in case you’re not paying attention, it doesn’t stop with Lia Thomas. There’s an all-out war being waged on women’s sports and in women’s spaces.
Mainstream media and far left politicians remain hell bent on pushing this woke gender ideology. And ESPN is leading the charge.
Which is exactly why Gaines is encouraging her followers to boycott the network.
In order to shift the narrative, sports fans simply can’t back down from the woke mob. And It’s going to take a whole lot more advocates like Riley Gaines to make the insanity stop.
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