Riley Gaines speaks at Trump rally to address women's rights amid transgender swimming competitor lawsuit
Gaines says she's voting for Trump because she's a woman
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OutKick contributor and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines on Friday made a speaking appearance at former President Trump's rally in Glendale, Arizona, where she declared that she is choosing to vote for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris, saying, "I'm voting for Donald J. Trump because I am a woman."
Gaines, the host of the "Gaines for Girls" podcast, was part of a speaking lineup that included Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and GOP Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Eli Crane.
Gaines' declaration was in response to Democratic voters who say they are voting for Harris because she's a woman. She then named several issues that mattered to her as a woman voter that she opposes Democrats on. Gaines especially criticized the Democrats' stances on gender-affirming surgery.
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"They don't believe in school choice; they don't believe in parental rights or the safeguarding of children; they don't believe in freedom unless it's the freedom to have an abortion or chemically and surgically castrate children," she said. "You have one ticket that knows what a woman is and has vowed to take decisive action at protecting our sex-based rights, compared to the other ticket that thinks men can become pregnant and that tampons belong in boys' bathrooms."
Gaines has agreed to testify in Georgia about her experience competing against and sharing a locker room with a biological male, Lia Thomas, alongside four other NCAA All-American women athletes, Fox News Digital reported earlier on Friday.
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Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines. (Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal / USA Today Network)
Gaines will join Reka Gyorgy, Kylee Alons, Grace Countie and Kaitlynn Wheeler, all members of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), who filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in March alleging the association knowingly violated Title IX in allowing Thomas to compete.
The committee's inquiry will focus on the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, where Thomas competed for the University of Pennsylvania women’s swimming team.
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Former President Trump is joined onstage by Riley Gaines at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas on Aug. 6, 2022. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Gaines competed against and eventually tied with Thomas, who identifies as a woman, in the 200-yard championships in 2022.
Gaines and the other women involved in the tournament will also reportedly recall being forced to share a locker room with Thomas. The five athletes will reportedly explain how they were harmed by the actions of Georgia Tech University and the NCAA and what must be done to protect women in the future.
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