"Megan Rapinoe doesn't represent the majority in anything she does"-Riley Gaines on footballer's support of trans athletes competing in women's sports

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, recently took a dig at star American footballer Megan Rapinoe for supporting the inclusion of trans youth in women's sports.

Gaines has long since claimed that trans women don't deserve a place in women's sports, often going as far as misgendering trans athletes. Meanwhile, Megan Rapinoe, a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself, has always been a champion for the inclusion of trans women and girls in sports.

Now, Riley Gaines has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to reply to a post that stated "The vast majority of women athletes support the inclusion of transgender athletes".

The post, which was written by user @stillgrey, was referencing an article by the Women's Sports Foundation titled "Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, and Candace Parker Join Nearly 200 Athletes Supporting Trans Youth Participation in Sports" and a year-old piece in The Sydney Morning Herald named "Majority of female athletes support the inclusion of transgender women".

Replying to the user, Riley Gaines wrote:

"Simply not true. 38ish of 40 girls on my team at University of Kentucky didn't want males competing against us. That was consistent among most NCAA teams. It's pretty clear Megan Rapinoe doesn't represent the majority in anything she does. But I do agree that silence is complicity"

Gaines failed to mention the names of the "38ish" girls who agreed with her or provide any reference or proof regarding the same.

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The long-running hostility between Riley Gaines and Megan Rapinoe

Riley Gaines has been in the spotlight for a while now for her anti-trans rhetoric. A couple of months ago, Gaines called out Megan Rapinoe when the latter voiced her support for trans women in sports.

When Time magazine asked Rapinoe if she would welcome a trans athlete on the team even if it meant someone assigned female at birth would be skipped, she answered in the positive, stating:

"Absolutely. You’re taking a “real” woman’s place,’ that’s the part of the argument that’s still extremely transphobic. I see trans women as real women. What you’re saying automatically in the argument—you’re sort of telling on yourself already—is you don’t believe these people are women. Therefore, they’re taking the other spot. I don’t feel that way."

Riley Gaines hit out at the soccer player in an interview with Fox News Tonight, saying:

"Not only is she just a high-profile athlete, she's actually someone who fought for women in sports. She fought for equal pay. She fought for equal access, equal resources, all of those things in comparison to the women's U.S. national soccer team, to the men's and now she is undermining her fight entirely.

"This is a classic case of virtue signaling. She wants to be seen as kind. She wants to be seen as inclusive, but it is not inclusive what she's fighting for. It's actually exclusive. It's exclusive to the very female athletes who the women's sporting category was created to protect."