Simone Biles Slams Riley Gaines For Transphobic Comments

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles refuses to stand for transphobia, especially in sports. The 28-year-old advocated for inclusivity after political activist Riley Gaines made harsh comments about a high school softball player.

Champlin Park, a softball team in the Minnesota High School League, was highlighted for winning the Class AAAA Softball state championship on X. Gaines quoted the tweet and wrote, “Comments off lol To be expected when your star player is a boy.” Biles was not a fan of this statement and took her to task.

“You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,” she said about Gaines’ former swimming career and her tying openly trans woman Lia Thomas in a 2022 race. Gaines went on to actively speak out against NCAA rules and their permitting Thomas to compete in her division.

“Straight up sore loser,” Simone Biles added. “You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”

Riley Gaines is rarely one to go quiet and responded to Biles, expressing her disappointment. “It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces,” she wrote. “You can uplift men stealing championships in women’s sports with YOUR platform. Men don’t belong in women’s sports, and I say that with my full chest.”

Biles didn’t let her have the last word, writing “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.” This is a continuation of her long-standing support of the LGBTQIA+ community, which her peers have highlighted. “After Tokyo, I said to [Simone], ‘There has to be so many people around the world that were suffering in silence and struggling with their mental health. You have no idea how many of those people you helped,” former gymnast Aly Thomas told Sports Illustrated earlier this year. “She helps people feel less alone.”