“Males competing against women will never be a lateral movement” - Riley Gaines criticizes Molly Cameron and Lesley Mumford’s finish at SBT GRVL

American swimmer and activist Riley Gaines has once again criticized the participation of trans women athletes in events made for women. Recently, transgender cyclists Molly Cameron and Lesley Mumford participated in the 2023 SBT GRVL. Highlighting their "unfair" participation, Gaines explained how they were taking away opportunities made for women cyclists.

Last weekend, the two transgender cyclists took the midpack spots amongst other female cyclists at the event. Their participation in a women’s event led to immense criticism. One of the social media users expressed that transgender athletes competing with women was an unfair practice, irrespective of whether they win or take the midpack spots.

The user shared a picture of Molly Cameron and Lesley Mumford on their Twitter and wrote:

"'You only care about keeping trans (i.e. male) athletes out of women's sports when they win.' Wrong. We always care. Molly Cameron & Lesley (Wesley) Mumford finished midpack at SBT GRVL last weekend. But they should have finished midpack in the men's category, not the women's.”

Sharing the Twitter user’s post, 23-year-old Riley Gaines also criticized Molly Cameron and Lesley Mumford’s participation in the women’s race. She reckoned that male and female participation in a single race was absolutely unfair and that it should never be accepted.

“It doesn't matter if a male wins or get last place in the women's category. They're still taking spots, opportunities, and recognition from women. No girl should have to compare themselves physically to a male. Males competing against women will never be a lateral movement.”

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Riley Gaines' locker room incident with trans athlete

Riley Gaines (Image via Instagram)

Earlier this year, Gaines recalled an incident from the locker room in a meet in 2022. The 23-year-old told Fox Business that she and her teammates were not informed that they would have to share the locker room with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a trans woman.

Gaines revealed that she experienced extreme discomfort in changing in front of Thomas, who had allegedly dropped her pants off and exposed her male genitalia to Gaines and her teammates.

"We were not forewarned beforehand that we would be sharing a locker room with Lia. We did not give our consent, they did not ask for our consent, but in that locker room we turned around and there’s a 6’4" biological man dropping his pants and watching us undress, and we were exposed to male genitalia. That to me was worse than the competition piece," she expressed.

After that, Riley Gaines openly began to criticize the practice of putting female and trans women athletes in the same events. Today, the swimmer is passionately demanding equal rights and protection for women athletes, which includes a separate locker room for transgender athletes at championships.