Swimmer Riley Gaines became a trending topic last week over a scary moment after videos showed dozens of protesters berating the former NCAA swimmer and 12-time All-American champ following her speech at San Francisco State University.
Gaines, a former NCAA star swimmer at Kentucky, is now upset at a soccer legend for pushing back on against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act while accusing her of “virtue signaling.”
Gaines reacted to a Megan Rapinoe tweet from March which also came on the same day Rapinoe, Sue Bird and others signed an Athlete Ally letter to House lawmakers opposing the act. The Rapinoe tweet Gaines reacted to read, “Today, politicians in DC are claiming to ‘protect women’s sports’ by pushing a trans & intersex sports ban. Call your Congressional rep today to say women’s sports need protection from unequal pay, sexual abuse & lack of resources, NOT from trans kids.”
Gaines reacted in two tweets that she has since deleted.
“It’s worth noting that 1) you are done playing sports competitively and 2) because you aren’t sexually attracted to men, you will never have a daughter to defend. To me, this simply looks like virtue signaling because you have nothing to personally lose,” Gaines wrote.
“I can respect opinions that differ from my own and everyone is entitled to think/speak independently, but I can’t help but think Megan Rapinoe would genuinely shiv any male who tried to take her spot on the US Women’s National Team,” Gaines added.
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Despite so much evidence of things not going well at her speaking event last week, Gained blasted San Francisco State University for praising a “peaceful” protest where she alleges she was attacked by trans-activists after urging that transgender athletes be kept out of women’s sports.
The 23-year-old also threatened legal action against the school for its alleged failure to help her after droves of trans-rights protesters pushed back at Gaines’ controversial speech. She claims she was punched twice by a transgender woman and was forced to barricade for hours in a classroom.
After the mayhem, Jamillah Moore, vice president for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, emailed students thanking them for taking part in the event.
“It took tremendous bravery to stand in a challenging space,” Moore wrote. “I am proud of the moments where we listened and asked insightful questions.”
“I am also proud of the moments when our students demonstrated the value of free speech and the right to protest peacefully,” she added.
Following the statement, Gaines took to Twitter and said, “I’m sorry did this just say PEACEFUL…. I was assaulted. I was extorted and held for random [sic].
“The protestors demanded I pay them if I wanted to make it home safely. I missed my flight home because I was barricaded in a classroom… We must have different definitions of peaceful.”
Moore offered Gaines no apology and stayed focus on the students’ commitment to standing with the trans community and diversity.
“I have no problem with ‘peaceful’ protest.’ I actually welcome it. I was grateful to see a diverse crowd in the room during my speech which I expressed multiple times,” Gaines wrote. “We had great dialogue and listened to each other. But that ambush was the opposite of peaceful.”
The university police department issued a statement on the protests on Friday.
“We are conducting an ongoing investigation into the situation. There were no arrests related to the event. The disruption occurred after the conclusion of the event which made it necessary for UPD officers to move the event speaker from the room to a different, safe location,” the University Police Department at San Francisco State University told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Gaines, a former swimmer at the University of Kentucky, has been a vocal critic of trans athletes participating in women’s sports after competing against former UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas.
