‘We Did Not Give Our Consent’: Riley Gaines Blasts the NCAA for Exposing Female Athletes to ‘Male Genitalia’

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines ripped into the NCAA during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, accusing the organization of violating the rights of women by allowing biological males to expose themselves in female locker rooms in order to accommodate transgender athletes.

Gaines gained national recognition after criticizing the inclusion of male swimmers in female competition. During the 2022 NCAA women’s championship, Gaines tied the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle event. Thomas was allowed to compete against the women as a senior despite having competed on the men’s team for the previous three years.

“The NCAA forced me and my female swimmers to share a locker room…with a 6’4″, 22-year-old, male equipped with and exposing male genitalia,” Gaines told the committee, referring to Thomas.

“No one asked for our consent, and we did not give our consent.”

Gaines added that when she asked an NCAA official about the policy governing the use of locker rooms at the championship, the official responded that all locker rooms at the competition had been made gender neutral.

After her opening remarks, Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.), asked Gaines to comment on the pushback she has received since becoming a prominent critic. “You’re told as a woman to shut up. Don’t say anything. What’s that like?” the Missouri Senator asked during his allotted time.

“They will call you everything under the sun, whether it’s transphobic, homophobic, racist, white supremacist, domestic terrorist,” she responded. “They will throw them all at you in hopes to deter you!”

During Hawley’s round of questioning, Gaines added that the team “only became aware we’d be undressing next to a man when we had to see a man undressing while we were simultaneously undressing.”

“Any man could have walked into our locker room… and we weren’t forewarned about it,” the student athlete maintained.

Gaines also responded to Chairman Dick Durbin’s (D., Ill.) comments criticizing her approach as endangering transgender people.

“Sen. Durbin,” Gaines said before the Committee, “you had mentioned this ‘rhetoric.’ You had mentioned ‘what message does it send to trans individuals?’ My combat to that is: what message does this send to women, to young girls…their rights to privacy and safety thrown out of the window?”

The NCAA has declined to implement a formal policy regarding trans inclusion, opting instead to defer to policies set by the governing bodies of individual sports, such as USA Swimming. Gaines blasted the NCAA for failing to protect women in a recent interview with National Review.

“I think they want no accountability,” Gaines said. “I think it’s because they know it’s wrong. They know it could be liable for an injury or sexual harassment in the locker room or a lawsuit.”

Gaines was assaulted during a speaking engagement with Turning Point USA at San Francisco State University in April as a result of her views. She was forced to barricade herself in a room for three hours for her own safety when student protesters became violent and unruly.