Riley Gaines at House Title IX Hearing: ‘Common-Sense Americans Know This is Unfair’

Retired collegiate swimmer and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines testified Tuesday afternoon at a House subcommittee hearing titled “The Importance of Protecting Female Athletics and Title IX.” Gaines discussed her story of being forced to compete against Lia (born William) Thomas, a man who says he is a woman. Gaines said she and other female swimmers “watched as this male swam to a women’s national title, beating out the most impressive and accomplished female swimmers in the nation, including Olympians and American record-holders.” “In addition to losing out on opportunities to Thomas, we also had to share a locker room and change in front of the six-foot-four, fully intact naked male,” she added. Neither she nor the other swimmers were “forwarned of this arrangement,” she said. “We were not asked for our consent and we did not give our consent.” Gaines elaborated that science “supports this instinct” with studies showing that “males have a 10% to 12% athletic advantage over females”