"Another voice and face to the movement" - Riley Gaines reacts to Paula Scanlan opening up about Lia Thomas

Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer, has reacted to the news of Paula Scanlan's latest interview about trans swimmer Lia Thomas. Paula Scanlan is a swimmer who represented the University of Pennsylvania in competitive swimming.

In a recent interview with Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire, Paula Scanlan spoke about participating in the same team as Lia Thomas. She also disclosed that she now wants to join Riley Gaines in "fighting for women and girls across the country", according to Daily Wire.

Matt Walsh posted a video of his interaction with Paula Scanlan on his Twitter account with the following caption:

"A teammate of Lia Thomas appeared in What Is A Woman anonymously. A few days ago she came to us and said she is ready to come out publicly and tell her story. I had a longer conversation with Paula where she revealed a number of details that weren't covered in the film."

Reacting to the tweet and video, Riley Gaines wrote,

"This is huge!!!! Courage begets courage. Thank you @PaulaYScanlan !!! Another voice and face to the movement. Let's flood her with support!"

During the interaction with Matt Walsh, Paula said that she came to know about the news of Lia Thomas representing the women's team during a team meeting in 2019. She also stated that she was shocked and felt uncomfortable about it.

Lia Thomas has been the center of debate since she started competing for the University of Pennsylvania women's team. Before her transition, Thomas was competing for the University of Pennsylvania men's team. There has been a widespread conversation about the participation of a biological male in women's events and Riley Gaines has been leading the discussions regarding this topic.

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Riley Gaines reacts to a video of Paula Scanlan posted by The Daily Wire

Paula Scanlan's interaction with The Daily Wire was held as a one-year reunion for those who were part of the What Is a Woman? 2022 film by Matt Walsh. The film was about gender and transgender issues.

In the film, Paula Scanlan's face was not revealed, according to The Daily Wire. Paula claimed that she received severe backlash from her classmates, teammates and professors for speaking anonymously in the film. A year later, however, she now feels empowered to speak out.

The Daily Wire tweeted a video of the occasion. In it, Paula spoke about Lia Thomas being part of the women's team and the inner conflict she struggled with at the time. Reacting to the tweet, Riley Gaines wrote,

"Hold onnnn but at minute 44 we see a new face emerge to the scene!!! Lia Thomas' teammate, Paula Scanlan. She has insight and stories that are unfathomable. I'm so glad she's ready to speak to the silencing, gaslighting, and discrimination we faced (her team at UPenn especially) that season as D1 swimmers."