Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines has joined 15 other female athletes in a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) over its transgender agenda, and now she is speaking out and saying it is “time to fight back.”
During her recent podcast for OutKick Sports, Gaines said it was “time someone took action.”
“I thought to myself for so long, ‘I wish someone would sue,'” Gaines said, according to the New York Post. “That’s how we win, someone has to sue – never once occurring to me that I could be a part of this, I could really help spearhead this along with ICONS and 15 other athletes that signed onto this lawsuit.”
“I realized, [it is] us. We can fight back. It’s what the left does so well. The other side, they throw around lawsuits like it’s nothing. The ACLU has no problem suing. [Attorney General] Letita James in New York, of course she’s sue-happy. … The other side has no problem suing,” she continued.
“It is time that we fight back, and we’ve seen this,” she added. “We’ve seen a slew of de-transitioners who are now suing their doctors or their health care providers or state statutes that allowed them to be deceived and taken advantage of.”
Transgender woman Lia Thomas (L) of the University of Pennsylvania stands on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle as other medalists (L-R) Emma Weyant, Erica Sullivan, and Brooke Forde pose for a photo at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship on March 17, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
“The tides are going to turn because, ultimately, this movement is driven by dollar signs,” Gaines concluded. “It is driven by money. People act out of a fear of not getting sued and by taking the actions that we have now. We are showing them that the other side is just as willing and just as capable to sue as they believe the trans rights activists would be to sue.”
Gaines’ comments come on the tail of a lawsuit filed by 16 female litigants who are charging that the NCAA committed “institutionalized cheating and discrimination” by supporting and attempting to include Thomas, <a href=”https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2024/03/14/16-female-athletes-file-landmark-title-ix-lawsuit-against-ncaa-trans-inclusion/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”Breitbart Sports reported on Thursday.
The 156-page lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court in the northern district of Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday, alleges that up to 300 college women were forced to use the same locker rooms and showering facilities that Thomas used during his time on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania.
Thomas infamously won the NCAA Division 1 swimming championships in 2022. He won the title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle event, beating two females, both Olympic silver medal winners.
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for fifth in the 200-yard Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18th, 2022, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The suit, spearheaded by former general counsel at the United States Anti-Doping Agency Bill Bock, includes more than just swimmers. Also signing on are female college volleyball players, tennis, and track and field athletes who feel that the NCAA must be held accountable for supporting trans athletes competing as women.
“It is time for each of the NCAA’s sponsors, and for all sports organizations that care about fair competition and safe sport, to recognize the NCAA has institutionalized cheating and discrimination against women and must be reformed,” Bock said, adding, “We need to hear them speak up for women and disassociate themselves from the NCAA and its conduct.”
The litigants include Reka Gyorgy, Kylee Alons, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Ainsley Erzen, Ellie Eades, Lily Mullens, Suzanna Price, Carter Satterfield, Kate Pearson, Katie Blankenship, Julianna Morrow, and athletes who wished to remain anonymous and are identified as Swimmer A, Swimmer B, Track Athlete A and Volleyball Athlete A.
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