Riley Gaines, a former competitive athlete, lashed out Monday at a biological woman who said she did not think it unfair she lost to biological men at a sporting event.
The incident was sparked when Kristin Chalmers, a cyclist awarded third place at the Illinois State Cyclocross Championships, said Friday “it would be ridiculous” to claim her life was ruined or it was unfair to lose to her transgender competitors, the NBC News reported. (RELATED: President Of LGBTQ Advocate Group Says Women Should ‘Learn To Lose Gracefully’ To Trans Competitors)
“Chalmers may claim she’s fine losing to men, but female athletes like her don’t have the right to willingly surrender the integrity of competition for everyone,” Gaines told Fox News. “She [Chalmers] is a traitor to ethical and fair sport. And she’s a traitor to women.”
Chalmer also signed a letter, which she showed to NBC News, that asserted her and others are “steadfast in their support” of the transgender competitors. The letter claimed “Trans women are women” and the inclusion of transgender competitors was fair and just, NBC reported.
The Illinois cyclist who finished 3rd, behind two transgender women last wkd, is pushing back on conservative critics.
She’s penned an open letter – with her fellow cis-female cyclists – supporting their transgender counterparts.
Our story for @NBCNews: https://t.co/Ah6fO0IulV
— Noah Pransky (@noahpransky) December 8, 2023
Gaines chimed in.
“Women clapping like a trained seal for their own erasure,” she tweeted about Chalmers’ response.
Women clapping like a trained seal for their own erasure https://t.co/bjmDPiHYnU
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) December 12, 2023
Gaines has been a critic over the inclusion of biological men in sports and has demanded they be banned from competing against women. Her open criticism 0f the unjustness of such competition stemmed back to when she tied with Lia Thomas — a biological man — for fifth place in 2022 in the NCAA Women’s Swimming Championship. Gaines said the NCAA tried to make the women “feel guilty” about their discomfort over Thomas being there with them in the female locker room.