Gina Carano strongly condemns media backlash against Riley Gaines for her stance on transgender athletes 

Former mixed martial arts fighter-turned-actor Gina Carano came out in support of Riley Gaines after a recent incident at a public event.

The American swimmer was speaking at the San Francisco State University against transgender inclusion in women's sports and the unfair advantage that she sees trans athletes holding over their cisgender counterparts. She was physically assaulted by those present and had to be escorted to safety by campus police.

Gina Carano took to Twitter to defend Gaines' stance and wrote:

"This is horrifying. It is NOT transphobic to say that biological men should not be competing against biological women in sports. Many trans people understand and agree with this. This is so disgustingly abusive and harmful and it is encouraging acts of violence against women. These protestors cannot debate this with logic or words so they resort to bullying and violence. Cowards. Ask yourself why the majority is trans women moving over into women’s sports and why we don’t see many trans men successfully transferring and competing against men, why doesn’t this go both ways, why are only women’s sports negatively effected?"

Carano also showed her support for Gaines and mentioned inclusion and acceptance without compromising the rights of female athletes:

"...and now PHYSICALLY ASSAULTING them when they say this is not fair. How many more women and young girls are we going to let this happen to? It’s going to get worse if more people don’t speak out. Young women and girls need YOU to say ENOUGH... This is not transphobia it simply means we are not there and might never be so find another way to be inclusive and loving towards trans people without it directly harming women. I hope you are ok @Riley_Gaines_ you are not alone."

Check out her tweet below:

---

UFC veteran remarks on popular opinion on Gina Carano switching up, says "Gina's now the villain"

Gina Carano was often hailed as the face of women's mixed martial arts during her years of competing in Strikeforce. Her popularity was unmatched amongst women fighters during that time, but Carano herself rejected the title.

However, it is no secret that she paved the way for women after her and was influential in the sport. Former UFC fighter Josh Thomson and veteran referee John McCarthy discussed Carano's role in the sport on their podcast, Weighing In.

McCarthy labeled Gina Carano as the first face of the sport:

“Gina was the face, the first face, Cris was the villain, Carano belongs in that list.

Thomson, however, pointed out that her stance on transgender inclusion in women's sports and other controversies has not played out in her favor:

"Wow, how things have changed, Gina’s now the villain across Twitter.”

Check out their comments on YouTube: