Free Republic

The left-wing smear machine fired up again last week, this time to go after Riley Gaines for her outspoken defense of women’s sports and criticism of transgenderism. But all the critics succeeded in proving is that the woke mob no longer has the cultural influence it once did, and that sensationalist headlines can’t hide an utter lack of substance in bad-faith personal attacks. As a quick refresher, Riley Gaines was the University of Kentucky swimmer who became a national story after she tied with the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships....

When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines, “Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster you wouldn’t have come in fifth,” it was more than a cheap shot. It was a window into what passes for feminism on the Left in 2025. In a post that went viral, I responded, “Imagine hating another woman for defending women, then mocking her for not beating a man.” That single sentence, my response on X, reached more than 62,000 likes in just a few hours. People are fed up. Ordinary Americans, men and women alike, can see...

Soon after New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders took the stage with NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for their “NYC is Not For Sale” rally, anti-trans activist Riley Gaines issued a warning. “We’re being destroyed from within,” Gaines wrote in an X/Twitter post, above a picture of Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and Mamdani. Ocasio-Cortez saw an opportunity to take a dig at Gaines and replied: “Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster, you wouldn’t have come in fifth.” Ocasio-Cortez is alluding to Gaines’ rise to public attention after finishing fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at...

Dave Rubin of "The Rubin Report" shares a DM clip of Bill Maher and Piers Morgan ganging up on Katie Porter for her shameless attack on Riley Gaines for being against transgender athletes in women's sports. 'Real Time' Crowd Goes Wild as Bill Maher & Piers Morgan Demolish Her Insane Narrative | 4:59 The Rubin Report | 3.09M subscribers | 569,698 views | October 9, 2025

Riley Gaines announced the birth of her first child, a daughter named Margot, Thursday night. Gaines announced the birth in a post on social media, showing her holding the baby alongside her husband, Louis Barker. "There's nothing that could've prepared me for a love like this. God has blessed us beyond belief. Welcome to the world, sweet Margot," Gaines wrote in the caption

Three weeks after sparking a war of words with anti-trans activist Riley Gaines, apologizing for her targeted remarks, and being inundated with comments about the incident since, seven-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has deleted her account on X, formerly Twitter. Biles de-activated her account, which had nearly two million followers, after she came to the defense of a transgender high school athlete that Gaines had been attacking. But after Biles personally insulted Gaines (for which she later apologized), it opened up a flood gate of attacks which appears to have led the 28-year-old gymnast - considered the greatest of...

Simone Biles has launched a scathing attack on Riley Gaines, comparing her to a man after the former swimmer criticized a Minnesota high school softball team for competing with a trans player. Gaines, 25, has forged a career as a political commentator following her time as a swimmer, where she competed against trans athlete Lia Thomas. On Friday, Gaines retweeted a picture of Minnesota team Champlin Park celebrating the state high school title that they won with transgender pitcher Marissa Rothenberger on the team. It sparked a blistering response from Biles, 28, who first criticized Gaines's view and then compared...

Simone Biles apologized to Riley Gaines on Tuesday for their online spat over trans-identifying males in women’s sports, the Olympic gymnast adding that she believes the current women’s sports system is “flawed.” The two athletes clashed on Friday when Biles attacked Gaines seemingly out of the blue, calling the former University of Kentucky swimmer a “sore loser” and telling her to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.” “I wanted to follow up from my last tweets,” Biles posted Tuesday on X. “I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current...

Simone Biles took offense to OutKick contributor Riley Gaines calling out a Minnesota high school whose softball team won a state championship Friday with a transgender pitcher. Marissa Rothenberger, a transgender athlete, tossed a shutout to continue a dominant postseason and give Champlin Park High School a state championship. The Minnesota State High School League posted a photo of the team on social media after the game, and Gaines noted the comments on X were turned off. “To be expected when your star player is a boy,” Gaines wrote. Biles, a seven-time Olympic gold medalist, saw the post and told...

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Police arrested at least five people Monday evening during a protest at Portland State University (PSU) against conservative speaker Riley Gaines who spoke at a public event on campus. "On Monday, May 5, 2025, at approximately 7:00 p.m., personnel with PSU’s Campus Public Safety Office requested PPB’s assistance with crowd control outside the Smith Memorial Student Union where an event not affiliated with the university was taking place. Over the course of the next hour-and-a-half, PPB officers arrested five individuals for various crimes. Once these individuals are processed, their names and charges will be disseminated," the...

President Trump signs an executive order ensuring only biological women compete in women’s sports—a reality The Daily Wire exposed in Lady Ballers. While the Left calls it discrimination, common sense calls it fairness.

Former NCAA athlete Riley Gaines delivered a scathing message to 'shameful' Democrats after just two voted in favor of a law banning transgender athletes in women's sports. The US House of Representatives passed its first bill in the 119th Congress on Tuesday, voting in favor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act - ensuring only people assigned female at birth can participate in women and girls athletics. The revolutionary act received a 218-206 vote as all Republicans voted in its favor along with just two Democrats, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez. North Carolina Representative Don Davis, a...

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines tore into Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after followers noticed she removed her pronouns from her X account. The woke congresswoman previously noted she used 'she/her' pronouns on her profile, but that reference has since disappeared. She also apparently changed her title in her description from 'US Representative' to 'US Congresswoman.'

Last week, the women’s volleyball team at the University of Nevada forfeited its game against San Jose State due to the team’s concern about playing against a transgender player. Still, the forfeit came despite the pressure from Nevada administrators to play the game anyway. Nevada’s athletic department officially announced the forfeit on Friday, noting that the team would not have enough players to take the court. The school initially announced that the team would play against SJSU, but the women on the team seemed to have other ideas and announced that they did not intend to play. Further, they criticized...

Millions of women and girls across the country can breathe a sigh of relief as the Biden regime was blocked from implementing its radical changes to Title IX in several states. ... in April that the Regime proudly announced that women would be forced to allow men in their locker rooms and bathrooms with a 1577-page Title IX ruling. Moreover, they would be forced to accept men on their sports teams. ... the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday smacked down a request from the Regime to implement the rule in 10 states after being blocked from doing so by lower...

Two male-born transgender boxers will be allowed to compete against women at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games sparking outrage as the question of whether it's correct to allow biological men to compete rises to the surface again. The question has dominated recent discussions with opponents claiming it poses a risk to competitors who are female by sex whilst those in favor argue it is political persecution and that tests show there is no advantage gained. Whilst the president of the International Boxing Association 's (IBA) claimed past tests proved the pair possess XY chromosomes (male), but the International Olympic Committee...

Here’s an interesting—and encouraging—trend in public opinion: In 2017, according to the Pew Center, 53 percent of Americans said that a person’s gender is determined by their sex at birth—that is, women start out as girls, and men start out as boys. By 2021, the percentage of sex realists had risen slightly to 56 percent. The following year, it rose four points more. Today, the percentage stands at 65 percent. The share of Americans who hold the classic conservative view of human nature has risen from barely more than half seven years ago to nearly two-thirds today. Progress! In fact,...

Riley Gaines hit the nail on the head: "It's astounding that we live in a time where this headline exists."A landmark shift. Doctors assert that biology exists is a landmark shift. We live in a time of utter insanity. What next? Perhaps we won't burn witches at the stake? No longer use trial by combat to determine guilt or innocence? Give up human sacrifice?Imagine the possibilities! With a turn toward science we could soon have steam engines, too.“NHS to declare sex is biological fact in landmark shift…”Imagine you’d been in a coma for the past decade and woke up to...

Amie Ichikawa spoke about male condom dispensers being installed in female prisons ... Amie Ichikawaregarding predators taking advantage of transgender policies... Gaines spoke to Ichikawa regarding the controversial standards of housing biological males in all-women’s prisons based on them identifying as females. ... "A large percentage of the people who are transferring are individuals the state has a hard time keeping safe because of their status that's not trans related; status with the gangs, being informants, just very problematic individuals. So they're coming from these level four men's prisons, they’re maximum security, and entering women's general population, which is completely...

Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele said in an interview this week that her former employer demanded she stop speaking about Will “Lia” Thomas, the male swimmer who identifies as “transgender” and competed against women at the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas won races and robbed women of opportunities. ... Steele made the revelation in an interview with women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas at the NCAA championships and tied against him. In the aftermath, Steele and another ESPN colleague, Sam Ponder, had spoken out against Thomas competing against women, which angered some at the company. “I was asked...