WEBVTT - Standing Up for REAL Women with Riley Gaines 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.000 We live in a world where we are supposed to 0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:06.240 celebrate men who put lipstick on and call themselves women. 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:09.119 Doesn't make sense. I mean, how can a woman have 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.239 a panis? How can men give birth when they're not 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:14.800 wired that way? When God didn't make them that way. 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:17.360 But we're told to just shut up and accept this 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.480 clown world that we live in. You're a bigot if 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:22.520 you speak out, you're transphobic. If you speak out, shut up. 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:27.680 There's this intentional blurring of the lines between truth and lies, 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:30.520 a distortion of the facts, intentionally a blurring of the 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:32.920 lines between what's right and wrong. They want us to 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.440 live in a chaotic world where anything goes and anything 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:38.559 goes society, a society that allows evil to thrive in. 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:41.800 I won't accept it. I refuse. That's not the world 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:43.120 that I want to live in. That's not the world 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.160 I want to raise kids in. That's not a world 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.040 where that even allows for common sense to exist. And 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.720 we need more people who will speak out. We need 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:53.199 to celebrate people who are willing to speak out. And 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:55.680 one of those people is Riley Gaines. She's a former 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.560 University of Kentucky swimming star who was a twelve time 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.560 All American and a five time SEC champion. It's pretty incredible. 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.240 She had a swim against Leah Thomas, who's a man. 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:08.840 How is that fair and how is it brave to 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:13.480 celebrate a six foot one man competing against women in sports? 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.360 Where's the bravery in that? And why hasn't the NCAA 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.720 stood up for female athletes, where the older generation of 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:22.959 women athletes standing up for the younger generation. Why does 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.000 this twenty two year old have to do it. But 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:27.760 we're fortunate to have Riley Gaines on this show because 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.480 she is brave, she is courageous, and she is blazing 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.640 a path for younger generations to live in a fair 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:45.880 and just world with common sense. Stay tuned for Riley Gaines. Riley, 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.600 I really appreciate you joining the show. I think you're 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:52.000 tremendously brave, and you know, we need young people like 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.960 you speaking out because we need to have younger generations 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:57.960 influence and I think it's going to take young people 0:01:58.000 --> 0:01:59.720 to do it. So I really appreciate what you're doing, 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.400 of course, and I totally agree with you, and just 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:05.360 thank you for giving me the opportunity and the platform 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:08.480 to continue speaking out. Are you ever just like, where 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:10.440 are the older people? You know? Why do I, as 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.399 a young person, have to take on this role? Absolutely? 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.840 When I first initially started speaking out last year after 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:22.359 our inc doable A Championships, I was truly looking for 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.560 a coach to say something, or someone with political power, 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:29.520 or someone within the NC double A. I thought it 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.440 needed to come from them, until it kind of hit 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.840 me that if we as female athletes aren't willing to 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:38.639 stick up for ourselves, how can we expect someone else 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.359 to stick up for us? And so I understand, I 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:43.760 understand that it has to come from female athletes, but 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.480 I think it's truly crazy. You know, I'm only twenty 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.840 two years old, and I've been exposed and thrust it 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.920 into this position where I never felt fully equipped for. 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.880 I still don't feel fully equipped for. And so it 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.839 is a bit mind boggling that one there's not more 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:04.120 people my age speaking out in two the older generation, 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.600 the generation that fought relentlessly for title nine, and of 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:10.040 course the Me Too movement. Where are all these people? 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:13.720 Where are the men the coaches? Who is taking precedent 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:18.440 and acknowledging that the women's sporting category is at jeopardy? Here? Well, yeah, 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:20.799 I mean, what's the point of women's sports now, right? 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:24.760 I know, Well, it's interesting because there's so many obviously, 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.799 there's so many organizations like the IOC, which is the 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:31.760 Olympic Committee, and all these sports specific organizations that have 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:36.400 all of these strict policies for doping and performance enhancing drugs. 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:41.000 But now suddenly, when the trans issue is brought to light, 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:45.520 they say testosterone has no effect on performance. But if 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.280 that was the case, there would be no sporting categories. 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:50.400 We would just have one big free for all and 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.440 men compete against women and it would be relatively equal 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:56.200 and how it panned out, but that's not what we 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.240 would see. And we all know that if there was 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:03.120 no sporting or specific categories. May I have three brother as, 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:05.520 I have an older brother who used to beat me up, 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:07.760 as most older brothers do, and I can tell you 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.880 men have a competitive advantage, so I had to deal 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.640 with that absolutely, you know, at the tower point, Riley, 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:15.400 you know it's I mean, I do think it's important 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.120 for younger generations like yourself to speak because I think 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:20.400 you're going to have a better time influencing your peers 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:24.080 and younger generations. But adults should also be there protecting 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:26.920 people like you and standing up for you. And also 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:30.320 the nca A, I feel like as an obligation to 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:32.320 to stand up for its female athletes. But you know 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:34.960 where have they been, Well, they've been the ones perpetrating 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:39.840 all of this. They were the ones who explicitly subjected 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:44.279 us to undressing in front of a naked male, to 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.320 which these past couple of days, it's come out that 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:48.760 the naked male that we were in dressing in front 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:54.240 of really is just a part of the agpunity community, 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.200 which is the autogenophiliac, which means you're sexually aroused from 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:02.000 dressing as a woman. So the nc double A, rather 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:06.600 than protecting us as females, they put us in that situation. 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.240 It might I add, they never disclose to us, forewarned 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.680 us that we would be in that situation. They told us, 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:16.760 of course that we were competing against Thomas, but we 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:19.680 had no idea, nor did we give them our consent 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:25.359 to share a changing space with a biological man who 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.760 I might add is fully impact with male genitalia. So 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:33.280 obviously then he gets aroused by this and you're subjected 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:35.479 to it. I mean, the way I look at it 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:39.160 is you know that's a sexual harassment incident. Absolutely, and 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.680 that's that's what you would think. But it's it's almost 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:48.599 comical because now the Biden administration is actively trying to, 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:52.560 of course, rewrite Title nine to where it is not well, 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:56.560 I guess sex would now equate to gender identity. So 0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:00.800 under Biden's new Title nine rewrite, it would actually be 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:04.520 sexual harassment if I missed gender Leah Thomas. But it 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.560 is not sexual harassment. For Leah Thomas to show his 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:13.479 body parts to us as we are undressing, that is 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:17.359 not sexual harassment. But me using the pronouns heat him, 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.440 now that that is so it's almost comical. Any sane 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:25.200 person would hear that and laugh, like, is this really 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:29.719 how far we've come as a country that this is 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.800 what we're defining a sexual harassment. I mean, I can't imagine, 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.279 you know, I've been in locker rooms, I played sports 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:38.960 growing up. I can't imagine being in a locker room 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.520 and then having a naked man staring at me and 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:46.760 just the level of intrusiveness, the level of violation, embarrassment 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.760 even of having to be subjected to that. Right, it's 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:55.320 a subconscious I mean, it's in a you feel uncomfortable 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:57.120 when you know a male gaze is in the room 0:06:57.160 --> 0:07:00.440 while you're undressing, like you immediately want to cover, which 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:02.160 I want to add, a swimming locker room is not 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:06.040 a place of modesty. Generally, these suits you put on, 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:10.080 their skin tight. It takes about fifteen minutes to which 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:15.240 you're fully exposed putting these suits on. And not to 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:19.880 mention it's a distraction more than anything. We are supposed 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.480 to be there, supposed to be on our a game, 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:25.280 competing to the best of our ability. But let me 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:29.400 tell you, it is so hard to not let that 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:35.480 incident be a distraction, which of course inhibits your performance 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:40.280 capabilities and how well you perform when you're not mentally 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:42.840 all there. Swimming, of course, like most sports is, it's 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.040 extremely mental. Of course there's a lot of physical that 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:50.360 goes into it, but the mental toll it has on 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.120 you is huge, and so it was a distraction well. 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.280 And then of course the ironies. You mentioned the changes 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:58.720 that Biden's trying to make. But then when he chose 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.120 Kamala Harris as a VP, he one of the boxes 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.160 he wanted to check as the fact that she's a woman. 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.640 But if being a woman no longer matters, then what's 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:08.880 the point. You know, It's like, we just live in 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.960 such silly times, and you know, of course this doesn't 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:16.200 make sense. No, I know, Well, the thing is, truthfully, 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:20.040 I feel like it makes sense to ninety five percent 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.760 of people, if not more. Which same person would truthfully 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:29.240 say that men and women are athletically the same, No one, 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.160 at least if they are. I can't comprehend that. But 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:36.679 majority of the people, we know what's happening is wrong, 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:41.080 and this translates far beyond sports, just this whole gender 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:46.240 ideology propaganda, what's happening in elementary schools, what's happening within 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:50.680 prison systems in the US. I mean, we know that 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:55.120 this stuff is wrong, but people are terrified of being 0:08:55.200 --> 0:09:00.480 labeled as transphobic, which at first I understood when I 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.000 first spoke out, I was scared of being called transphobic. 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:07.120 But now I've realized that it doesn't make me hateful, 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.360 it doesn't make me transphobic. It doesn't make me a 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:14.000 bigot to understand and publicly say that there are two sexes, 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.959 that you cannot change your sex, and that women deserve 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:22.520 respect and opportunities, again in sports, but far beyond sports 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.040 as well well. And how many times do you hear 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.439 about a man entering women's sports and then all of 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.240 a sudden, you know, they start breaking records when they 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.720 were not able to do that among other women, Right, 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.199 that doesn't You don't hear a lot of women entering 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:39.160 men's sports and then they start breaking records where we 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:43.400 saw that with Leah Thomas. No, you don't, And I 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:47.040 think it's important to add last year at our instable 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.679 A Championships, where we had, of course Leah Thomas, who 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:53.840 is a male to female transitioner, at the same meat, 0:09:54.080 --> 0:10:00.679 we had a female transitioning to male who had reassignment 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:02.960 surgery on the top, who had a double in sectomy, 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:07.520 who went by heat him name was now Isaac, but 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:09.840 of course was swimming with the women because this person 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:14.240 would have never qualified for NC double as a as 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:17.960 a male. So this proves that the women's category is 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:22.520 what's at jeopardy, not the men's category. This said swimmer, 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:26.320 who is now a trans man is competing with the 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:29.360 men and went from being an All American phenomenal female 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:35.040 swimmer to placing glass every time as a man. Actually 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:37.280 the other day got second to last and be a 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.120 man with one arm. So that's what we're looking at. 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:45.319 There's so much talk of trans women competing with women, 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:49.200 but hardly I mean crickets from trans men in the 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.480 men's category. How did Leah Thomas do when he was 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.880 swimming against other men? Leah the year before transitioning ranked 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.400 four hundred and sixty second at best in the men's category. 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.960 There's people who will say Leah was ranked six, Leah 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.319 was this. First of all, I'm a swimmer, I know 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:09.679 I know how to follow this stuff. That's not true. 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.240 Leah might have placed six at a conference meet or 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:17.240 at a duel meet, but Leah never even remotely qualified 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:19.800 for NC double as as a male. This was not 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.240 a lateral movement, which is why this conversation is necessary. 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:27.200 Had this have been a lateral movement and we had 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:32.440 science that could prove these hormone suppressors, which we know 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.920 would never I mean, even with hormone suppression, there's certain 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.840 advantages that would never be mitigated. But let's say in 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.839 theory they could. This could be potentially a different conversation. 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.120 But this is not a lateral movement. This isn't Leah 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:49.320 ranking five hundreds, placing five hundreds in the women's category. 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:52.720 This is Leah becoming the fastest woman in the entire country, 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.840 beating out Olympians, American record holders, and some of the 0:11:55.920 --> 0:12:00.199 most impressive athletes, female athletes of really our time. What's 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.720 frustrating about that? So? I played field hockey and lacrosse 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.240 growing up. I almost played in college. I tore my 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.920 acl as I was getting recruited, and it was kind 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:10.520 of one of those situations where you know, all the 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.280 D one schools, we're like, yeah, I don't call us, 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.800 we'll call you. Okay, I got onofficial visits and stuff. 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.319 But you know, it all happens how it's supposed to. 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.080 But but the frustrating thing about this, especially in swimming, 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.760 I mean there's a level of dedication and hard work. 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.000 I mean you were busting your butt to get to 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.360 the level that you did, working incredibly hard, and then 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.680 to basically have this, you know, unfair competition. I can't 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:38.160 imagine how demoralizing and frustrating that is after sacrificing so 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:41.079 much to reach this level as you did. Right, And 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.800 you're exactly right by saying there were sacrifices made. I 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.959 swam like most swimmers at an elite level. I mean 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.600 essentially all swimmers. It's impossible to find a swimmer who 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.800 started swimming before or after the age of six. I mean, 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:57.200 I started swimming at four and it was every day, 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:01.640 which sounds crazy, but you dedicate your life to your sport. 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.760 I missed out on proms, I missed out on vacations. 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:08.760 Every summer at college, we were forced to be at 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:12.000 school taking classes so we could train. I mean, there's 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:15.440 so much you give up, which I'm so grateful for. 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.280 I'm not sitting here winding about giving things up. I 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.840 was more than willing to give these things up. But 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:24.000 it's because I was dedicated to being the best that 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:27.040 I could be. But when you have a biological man 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:31.520 come in there and you have to race against each other, 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.760 it just feels like you're starting the race with your 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:40.000 hands behind your back. Like it's so just heartbreaking. I mean, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:44.280 of course, Title nine was created to protect women's sports 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:49.920 and opportunities, and it just feels like this is regressive. 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:52.320 And the left likes to look at this as it's progressive. 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.600 We're moving forward, but this is taking us back fifty 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.400 years in time. This is not progressive. It's actually quite 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.280 the opposite you've had where I think you tied Leah 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.000 Thomas and they gave the trophy to him on the 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.920 podium because they wanted him to be in the photos 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:09.760 with the trophy. And then you were nominated by the 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:13.120 University of Kentucky as their nca Women of the Year. 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:15.280 But so was he, even though he's not a woman. 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:20.160 So it's like that that is just totally frustrating. Yes, 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:24.680 it felt like especially in the instance of when we 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.800 tied and they have one trophy and they give it 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.840 to Thomas, and when I questioned him, he was like, well, 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:33.320 Thomas has to have it for photo purposes. It just 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:37.560 felt like we as female athletes, were reduced to a 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:41.080 photo op to validate the identity of a man. And 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.800 that's truthfully what pushed me over the edge into speaking 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.880 out is when they told me Thomas had to have 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:51.080 the trophy for picture purposes, it was like it all 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:53.560 made sense to me, which of course it did before this. 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.920 But what the NCAA was trying to do was save face. 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.600 They're following the money, they're fall owing this loud minority 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.320 because they don't want to get in trouble. They don't 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.800 want to get sued they don't want to deal with backlash, 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.760 but I made it my goal for them to have 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.360 to deal with backlash when they put us through what 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.120 they put us through. Did any Upen swimmers stand up 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.960 and say this is wrong? Because of course he was nominated. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.400 He was picked to be their NCAA Women of the 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.320 Year in competition there so did any Upen female swimmers 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:32.720 step up? Not publicly, they did some stuff anonymously. They 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:38.200 sent emails. I've talked with several of them over the 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:42.640 course of these past couple of months. One of them 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.800 has been kind of filling me in on all of 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.440 the silencing methods that their university has used to ensure 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.080 that they're quiet, which is heartbreaking because now not only 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.280 is this an issue, of course, with the fairness in 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.160 our sports, but this has become an issue with freedom 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:03.320 of speech. And their schools made them go to mandatory 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:07.320 LGBTQ meetings every week when they were concerned about the 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.760 locker room piece, and they reached out to their their university, 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.680 and I swear I have a screenshot of this. I 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.960 can't believe it's even in writing, but their university said, 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.800 if you feel uncomfortable seeing mel Genitalia. Here are some 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:25.120 counseling resources that you should seek, and then they were referred, 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:29.560 of course, the LGBTQ Education Center on campus to educate themselves. 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:32.880 They were told that their school has already made their 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:35.920 stance for them. They're told they're never they will never 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:38.000 get into grad school, they will lose friends, they will 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.000 never get a job if they speak out. One of 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:47.040 Leah's teammates actually was sexually assaulted in high school. She 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.640 was raped, and so she was dealing with all of 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.240 this trauma. And when Leah came out and transitioned, she 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.840 immediately sat with her coaches and said, Hey, like, this 0:16:57.920 --> 0:16:59.760 is what I'm dealing with. This is my past. This 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:03.160 is really triggering to me and it causes me a 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.000 lot of anxiety. Is there something we can do? And 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.879 her coaches said, no, sorry, suck it up, which is 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.600 just to me. I mean, I'm fortunate enough I've never 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:15.560 had to go through anything like that necessarily, but I 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:20.560 just can't imagine feeling so hopeless and no one who 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.919 was there, who's there to protect you, doing anything to 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:28.000 actually protect you. Quick commercial break more with Riley Gains 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:33.400 on the other side. So obviously you're dealing with all 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.320 this stuff behind the scenes. At what point were you 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.480 just like, I need to speak out? You know? What 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:43.679 was it? Why did you decide to speak out? You know? I, truthfully, 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.720 like I said, I knew what was happening was wrong. 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.760 I knew the competition was wrong. I knew the locker 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:54.640 room situation was wrong. But it was when we were 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:58.000 sidelined so Lenda could have the trophy That's when it 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.160 occurred to me that someone has to do something. Because, 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.600 like I said, I was truthfully looking for someone else 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.600 to do it. I wanted some other swimmer to take 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:12.080 a stand and I could kind of follow quietly behind them. 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.840 But I started thinking of all of the warriors and 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:19.920 trailblazers who fought for Title nine. I started thinking of 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.720 one day I just got married. One day I hope 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.960 to have daughters, and I started to think of their future. 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.120 What if no one speaks up? What would that mean 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.200 for my daughter's Sports has given me so much and 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.320 so many skills, so many leadership skills, the confidence to 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:40.960 continue doing what I'm doing and not care about the backlash. 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.240 I want my daughters to have that opportunity of my sons. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.680 If I'm fortunate to have sons. I can't imagine them 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:52.640 not having the same access and resources that I did. 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.000 And that's what pushed me over the edge. And so 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.560 I called my my athletic director at the University of Kentucky, 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.760 and he's an amazing and amazing person and we have 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:06.439 a good relationship, and so I called him and I said, Hey, 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:10.480 this is what happened. These are my convictions. How do 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.119 you feel about me taking a public stance And he said, 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:17.160 speak your heart. I will support you in anything you do, 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:21.280 which now I'm realizing God put me at the University 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:24.160 of Kentucky. He put me in the position to where 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:29.360 Leah Thomas and I tied because there's no other athletic 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:32.600 director in the NC double A who's a supportive of 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:38.439 their athletes and their true convictions as Mitch Barnhart was 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:42.639 to me. So I'm so grateful for my university and 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.359 my coaches. I never dealt. Dealt was silencing, which is 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:49.440 one hundred percent an anomaly, you know, and then what's 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:51.320 been you know, obviously you've had the support of the 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.119 University of Kentucky, which is beautiful to hear that. You know, 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:56.600 there's still places of sanity out there on all of this. 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:59.679 What's been the public response? Like, you know, how has 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:02.920 that been for you? You You know, at first, it was 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:06.040 hard for me to handle all the negative comments, all 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:09.920 the death threats, all of the comments about my appearance, 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.120 and so many people telling me that this isn't what 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:15.920 christ would do, You're not a Christian. That was hard 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:21.000 for me to hear. But now, oh my gosh, the 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:25.639 support is tenfold. I mean, there is so much more support, 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:29.280 especially as people get more comfortable and more instances happen 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:34.239 similar to the Leah Thomas one again in prisons, I 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:37.200 mean just all over where women are essentially getting erased, 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.760 people are becoming more vocal, and people are providing support, 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:45.320 and it has been so so much more support than 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:49.479 anything negative. And now I'm so secure with myself and 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:52.760 I stand so firm that the negative comments go in 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:56.360 one ear and out of the other. I know I'm 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.080 not transphobic. I think that word is socially I'm not 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.960 scared of trans people. I do think trans people should 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.120 have rights. I think no one should be denied athletic opportunity, 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:10.840 but we should all compete fairly. What makes one person's 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:15.359 identity and mental health and feelings more valuable over a 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:20.840 whole other groups, their mental health, what about their feelings? 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:25.080 Of course, no one's asking that about us and us 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:30.800 as female athletes, so but there's been so much more 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.720 support than anything negative. Well, if you've noticed, you know, 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:36.520 it's a tactic of the left to label people names. 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:39.000 You know, for instance, you don't get the vaccine, you're 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:41.600 an anti vaxx. You know, it's like there's always a 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.440 label to try to, you know, put the societal shame 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.080 on people that they want to shut up. And it's unfortunate, 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:49.919 but to your point, you just have to know, you 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:51.560 know what they're going to do this anyways, and I 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:54.440 know what I'm doing is right. I've had so many 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:59.359 conversations with my family, with my friends, lots of prayer, 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:03.720 and I know my true heart, I know my true 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:06.560 intentions and my true intentions or not to advance myself 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:12.320 personally throughout this matter. But it's to make changes both 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:14.320 at the state and federal levels. So this doesn't have 0:22:14.359 --> 0:22:17.320 to happen to any girl. Again, no girls should compare 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:19.159 themselves to a man. Is that where you get your 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:22.600 strength from through your faith? Definitely, it's a huge part 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:27.280 of me and here recently, I feel like I don't 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:30.680 know if I was just naive before, but I just 0:22:30.840 --> 0:22:33.920 feel like with everything happening in our society, I mean, 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:37.040 look at what's happening, what happened at the Grammys where 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:40.320 we have someone dressing up as Satan. I mean, I mean, 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:43.800 I just feel like we live in this godless society, 0:22:43.840 --> 0:22:47.119 and I feel like that's kind of why we've taken 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:52.680 this spiral down to which I think everyone can agree on. 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:56.200 Look at what's happening. I mean, there's so many different 0:22:56.520 --> 0:22:59.640 assets that I'm not even just sports, this is far 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:05.640 beyond that are just plummeting. And so I feel like 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:10.520 we just live in this godless society where we've lost 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:14.879 our morals, We've lost our sense of common sense, like 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:18.800 our common sense, our understanding of truth and reality and 0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:22.680 logic and how that's crucial. We have people who deny 0:23:22.760 --> 0:23:25.480