Riley Gaines, who formerly competed for the University of Kentucky NCAA swim team, has often been seen taking a stand against the inclusion of trans athletes in the women's category.
Gaines has been actively working to safeguard women in sports. Right from applauding Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for banning transgender athletes from competing in the women's category to calling out transgender athletes for skipping to compete in the open category at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, she has fiercely backed her cause.
Gaines met her husband, Louis Baker at the University of Kentucky. They started dating in 2019 and got married on 29th May 2022. During this Halloween season, Baker was seen wearing a women's swimsuit, potentially hinting at transgender athletes competing in the women's category in swimming.
Baker wore a swimsuit with a blue jacket and added a gold medal around his neck along with swimming glasses. He also added a hair wig. Gaines took to her social media to share her husband's Halloween look and wrote a message seemingly aimed at transgender athletes competing in women's sports:
"My husbands Halloween costume has given him a newfound respect for all the men who voluntarily wear women's suits. Should have got his suit from Target", she tweeted on her X account.
Riley Gaines has called out Lia Thomas multiple times in the recent past. The latter previously competed in the men's team and later went through hormone replacement therapy to become the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship last year.
Riley Gaines' gives verdict after NAGA changes transgender athletes policy
Riley Gaines applauded the female athletes who refrained from competing in the recent North American Grappling Association (NAGA) tournament.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament, held on October 21, 2023, witnessed trans athletes overpowering the cisgender female athletes in the women's category. Due to this, the female athletes decided to withdraw from competing in the event.
The incident led the NAGA to revise its trans athletes' participation policy. The organization stated that the transgender athletes will compete in the men's category henceforth or else they will be refunded.
It confirmed that only cisgender females will compete in the women's category (h/t @ReduxxMag on X). Gaines praised the women saying,
"It took NAGA only 21 hrs after this exclusive piece was published exposing their discriminatory policies before they changed them to prioritize fairness and protect women. The effectiveness of boycotts and using your voice is real", she wrote on X.