Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines called out Democrat lawmakers who opposed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on Thursday, accusing them of putting their political interests above their responsibilities as parents after the bill passed last month in the House with zero votes from Democrats.
The partisan bill, which seeks to amend Title IX to prohibit schools that receive federal funding from allowing biological men from participating in women's sports, passed the House late in April with a 219-203 vote. All the "yes" votes came from Republicans, and all the "no" votes came from Democrats, several of whom accused Republicans of "bullying" transgender student-athletes with their support of the legislaton.
In an interview on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Thursday, Gaines said she finds it baffling that the "spineless" male lawmakers who have daughters were willing to succumb to political pressure while foregoing their obligations as fathers to protect their children.
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"This is another question I tend to find myself asking, specifically and thinking about fathers… when every single Democrat voted in opposition of protecting women and girls in sports. In particular, I think of those dads who did that. Those dads, do they want their daughters sharing locker rooms with men?" she asked.
"Do they want their daughters losing out on opportunities being asked to kindly step aside and smile and give away their trophy to a man? Is that what they want?" she continued.
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"I truthfully believe in my heart the answer is no," Gaines added. "Yet, they are willing to throw that out of the window and say yes. That is what they want. And It’s because they are spineless. They have no backbone, no morals, and they are cowards."
Gaines made the comment after a California high school senior went viral for her passionate speech in which she took her school district to task for allowing a biologically male student to use the women’s locker room.
The student said the school was putting the safety of women in "jeopardy" by allowing transgender students to use the same bathroom and locker rooms as female students, alluding to a physical altercation captured in a viral video showing a transgender student assaulting a female student on campus.
Parents reportedly told Fox 11 in Los Angeles the transgender student has a history of "erratic and uncomfortable behavior" and had access to the girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. Students told the outlet that the student "shows his genitals" in the girl's locker room. The student was later expelled from the school. Riverside Police also claimed this was not the first time the transgender student has been involved in an altercation.
Gaines – who said she was forced to share a locker room with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas when they competed against each other as NCAA athletes, an event that sparked her fight to protect women's sports – later turned her attention to the mothers and female role models who have been silent on the issue.
" It seems to be whether that be at the state level, the federal level, across the general public, it seems that it’s women who are fighting the sex-based protections….it’s mind-boggling," she said. "It’s something I truly don’t understand. Again, this is something that we are seeing almost unanimously. I think we can agree that women typically tend to be more agreeable. They tend to not want to ruffle feathers they don’t want to step on toes. But that’s how we have gotten here by being agreeable. By being quiet, by not being bold and using our voice…"
In an earlier Fox News interview, Gaines said she finds it "ironic" that the left was once a party that embraced women and fought for women's rights. And now we've seen this narrative being totally flipped."
"It just shows the war on women is underway, and the Democrats will pay for this in 2024," she said.
