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Women’s rights activist Riley Gaines has urged fans to celebrate October 10 as ‘Real Women’s Day'. The 23-year-old explained in a social media video that she was deeply shocked by reputed sports media outlets celebrating Women’s History Month in March by glorifying stories of trans women athletes.
Former NCAA swimmer Gaines is popularly known for her fight to provide women’s rights in sports. It all started for Gaines when she was tied with Lia Thomas at the NCAA finals in the women's 200-yard freestyle event. However, the medal was ultimately given to Thomas.
Previously from 2017 to 2020, the transgender swimmer swam for the University of Pennsylvania as a man. Later on, when Thomas changed her gender, she began to break records in the women’s categories.
Gaines also leveled allegations on Lia Thomas for misbehaving with her and her teammates in the girls’ locker room. Owing to these events, the former frequently calls out Thomas and other trans athletes for competing in women-oriented events.
Recently, in a video on her X account, Riley Gaines shared a video of her pointing at Women’s History Month.
"I noticed a common theme and that theme was that in places where we were supposed to be honoring women, we were honoring men, who are claiming the identity of a woman," said Gaines.
She shared an ESPN video that featured the story of Lia Thomas honoring the transwoman’s persistence and struggles.
According to Gaines, it was unfair for organizations to celebrate the achievement of trans athletes on Women’s History Month. So she mentioned discovering Real Women’s Day and celebrating it on October 10.
"Now why October 10th? October 10th is the 10th day of the 10th month, which in Roman numerals is XX, and if you took fifth-grade biology, then you know XX is the female chromosome," she elaborated.
Gaines created the petition in a link and urged her followers to sign it.
What happened in the locker room incident between Riley Gaines and Lia Thomas?
In June 2023, Riley Gaines appeared at the hearing on “Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans” to talk about her encounter with Lia Thomas in the locker room in the 2022 NCAA Championships.
Gaines explained that she and her teammates were uncomfortable sharing the locker room with Thomas, who was biologically a male. The former University of Kentucky student also revealed that the NCAA representatives did nothing to help her teammates and her. Gaines added that to avoid sharing the changing room with a biological man, a group of girls chose the janitor’s closet to maintain their privacy.
Furthermore, Riley Gaines shared that Lia Thomas, who was with them in the locker room was allegedly exposing his male genitalia to her teammates which made them feel extremely violated.
After sharing the events, Gaines clarified that she was not against transgender competing in sports. Instead, she was pleading for an environment that was safe and fair for all sorts of participants.
