"Women not wanting to unconsensually undress in front of men is now homophobic lol" - Riley Gaines hits back at fan supporting Lia Thomas

Riley Gaines recently criticized a fan for accusing Kaitlynn Wheeler of "homophobia" as the latter called out Lia Thomas.

Wheeler, who is a University of Kentucky swimmer and an ambassador for Riley Gaines Center, shared a picture of Thomas. The transgender swimmer was seen wearing a ring, indicating her engagement with a woman. Wheeler recalled the trans swimmer using the female locker room and said:

"And this man was allowed to watch women undress as he exposed himself to us while still being attracted to women. It’s perverse and criminal."

A fan expressed dissent towards Wheeler's statement by saying:

"Never takes long for the homophobia to come out does it."

Gaines, who has been addressing concerns regarding the participation of Thomas and other trans athletes in women's sports for over a year now, backed the fellow University of Kentucky swimmer. She strongly asserted her stance on the prohibition of trans athletes in female locker rooms.

"Women not wanting to unconsensually undress in front of men is now homophobic lol. If that's the standard, I would imagine 99.9% of women are homophobic. Men don't belong in our locker rooms," the former NCAA swimmer wrote.

---

"I could not imagine being a woman working there" - Riley Gaines condemns ESPN for creating a special on Lia Thomas

Riley Gaines criticizes ESPN for creating a special show on Lia Thomas

Riley Gaines has been advocating against Lia Thomas since the 2022 NCAA Championships when both swimmers tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle after clocking a time of 1:43.40. However, Thomas was the only swimmer to have been awarded the trophy.

According to Gaines, she was informed that her trophy would arrive through mail and was asked to pose with a sixth-place trophy which did not fit well with her. Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship.

ESPN network released a special, featuring Thomas in the 'Celebrating Women's History World' in March 2023. During the Outkick's "Gaines for Girls Podcast" along with former ESPN host Sage Steele, Riley Gaines berated the American multinational sports media by saying:

"The special was surrounding Lia Thomas and how brave he is and how much adversity he had to overcome and I remember watching this and hearing the voiceover, of course noticing it was a woman and I just remember thinking to myself, 'I could not imagine being a woman working there, being asked to report on this issue with a smile on my face.'"