Global Courant 2023-04-18 19:30:56
EXCLUSIVE: Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky All-American swimmer, did not hesitate when he responded to President Biden’s pledge to veto a bill that would bar biological males from participating in women’s sports.
Speaking to Fox News Digital on Monday just hours after the White House released a statement criticizing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, or HR 734Gaines said Biden’s veto pledge was evidence that he put a “radical minority” in front of women across the country.
“The president has declared that science, truth and common sense no longer matter. By opposing this bill, President Biden is targeting a radical minority at the expense of women, who make up 51% of the population,” Gaines said .
President Biden (left) and former All-American University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines (right). (Getty)
“Equal opportunity, privacy and security in our sports should not be controversial. The women who once advocated for Title IX should be outraged because this goes against everything they fought for. Female athletes of all ages, abilities and sports deserve better, she added.
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HR 734 has not yet passed Congress, but is expected to go to a vote in the House of Representatives sometime this week.
In a statement, the White House said it “strongly opposes” the bill because it would “deny many families from accessing sports by placing an absolute ban on transgender students.”
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Members of the House of Representatives participate in the vote for Speaker on the first day of the 118th Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 3, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
It went on to call the bill “discriminatory”, claiming that such a law was “unnecessary” and that it “harms families and students”.
As part of the bill, educational institutions receiving Title IX funding from the federal government “may not permit a person of male gender to participate in an athletic program or activity designed for women or girls.”
The bill says an athlete’s sex would only be recognized by their “reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” The legislation would allow transgender female athletes to train or practice in an all-girls athletic program, but only if no biological female athlete is denied a place on the roster.
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University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines reacts after tied for 5th place with University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200 Freestyle Finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18, 2022 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Democrats have made it clear that most or all will oppose the bill on the floor. The House Education and Workforce Committee passed the legislation by a vote of 25 to 17 — every Republican voting in favor and only Democrats voting against.
Fox News’ Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.
