An online debate about the inclusion of trans athletes in sports between Simone Biles and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines has earned reactions from all corners of the sports landscape.
The back-and-forth started via social media on Friday, June 6, when Gaines, 25, alleged a Minnesota high school softball team won the state championship because their “star player is a boy.”
Biles, 28, responded, “You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. 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!!!!!”
Gaines, who now works for Outkick, has become a staunch advocate for excluding trans women from competing in women’s sports. In 2022, while a swimmer at the University of Kentucky, Gaines tied for 5th place in a race that included Lia Thomas, the first openly trans woman in the NCAA women’s division.
Simone Biles Slams ‘Sick’ Transphobic Comments About Student Athletes
Things escalated on Friday, when Gaines drew a parallel between trans athletes and the abuse of former Team USA doctor and convicted child predator Larry Nassar.
In 2016, Nassar was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, of which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 years. Nassar was also charged on several counts of criminal sexual misconduct, including two charges related to girls between the ages of 13 and 15 and one with a child under 13. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison.
More than 60 women gave victim impact statements and more than 260 accused Nassar of sexual abuse. In 2018, Biles came forward as one of Nassar’s victims.
Biles testified before the U.S. Senate in 2021, alleging the FBI botched the investigation into Nassar and, as a result, allowed the abuse to continue.
Gaines posted video of Biles’ testimony via X on Friday, writing: “Simone Biles when she had to endure a predatory man Vs Simone Biles when other girls have to endure predatory men,” attempting to conflate Nassar’s abuse with young athletes sharing a space with a trans person.
Biles apologized on Tuesday, June 10, saying she regretted making things “personal” with Gaines. (In a post via X on Friday, Biles called on Gaines to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”)
“I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport,” Biles wrote. “The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.”
Biles continued, “These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect.”
Riley Gaines Defends Referencing Larry Nassar in Simone Biles Trans Debate
Gaines responded in short order, saying she accepted Biles’ apology for the “personal attacks.”
“I know she knows what this feels like,” Gaines wrote via X. “She’s still the greatest female gymnast of all time. A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play sports. Competition, on the other hand and by definition, is exclusive. So the idea of ‘competitive equity’ is nonsensical.”
Gaines added, “Women’s sports can’t be used as an excuse for girls to center the feelings and validation of men and boys. I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.”
Keep reading to see how celebrities and members of the sports world have reacted to the discussion surrounding Biles and Gaines.
Stephen A. Smith
The ESPN personality attempted to take both sides of the debate, first criticizing Gaines for invoking Biles’ history of sexual abuse.
“Respectfully, Gaines I was with you until that last quote,” Smith, 57, said Monday, June 9, on his podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show.” “Respectfully, that’s going a bit too far. Talking about transgender women competing in sports in one issue. Using a guy like Larry Nassar — one of the most despicable human beings we’ve ever witnessed on this Earth who molested and abused numerous women, numerous gymnasts, including Biles — to go that low, Gaines you lost all credibility.”
Smith continued, “You could have made your argument without going that far. No matter what Simone Biles said to you, how she may disagree with you on your position, did not warrant you to go that far. Certainly you’re not suggesting that it was okay for her to be molested. Certainly you’re not suggesting it was okay for her to be abused. So why would you say something like that? It’s just cruel.”
However, Smith pivoted to explain that he mostly agreed with Gaines’ overall argument about the inclusion of trans athletes.
“The reality is that it is a disservice to women in a lot of people’s eyes that men transitioning to women get to compete in women’s sports,” Smith argued.
He added, “There’s an abundance of women out there who have a right to feel the way that Riley Gaines feels, Simone Biles. Now whether it’s right for me or somebody else to say, it’s a different argument.”
Smith welcomed Gaines as a guest on his podcast on Tuesday, where he called Gaines’ overall argument “very, very valid.”
“First of all, [it’s] your personal experience,” Smith told Gaines. “Secondly, you’re a lady. I am not. So when you talk about what’s offensive to you, one of the things that I have a problem with – particularly with people on Capitol Hill – is when men are trying to tell women about their experiences.”
Katie Nolan
The Emmy-winning journalist and former ESPN host dissected Gaines’ “insane” point of view on the Tuesday, June 10, episode of her podcast, “Casuals.”
“They think that a transgender athlete being in a locker room would force every other girl on that team to be naked in front of a transgender athlete,” Nolan, 38, said. “It is such a leap of a thing that could happen, as is any argument that anybody passionately makes against trans athletes in sports.”
She continued, “Trans women are not men. That’s where the disconnect is happening. Men go into women’s sports and do evil things all the time. We don’t have to come up with some fantasy scenario where this might happen. It’s happening. And you know that, because you’re tweeting it at the woman it happened to. I just am sick of people acting like keeping people out of sports is some revolutionary position to take, when actually, if you look through the history of sports, it’s kind of the establishment.”
Nolan criticized Gaines for “attacking a very vulnerable community very maliciously.”
“I don’t know how you go to sleep at night, talking the way that you do about children,” Nolan added.
Sam Phillips
Phillips, a male gymnast at the University of Illinois, championed Biles’ abilities in his defense of the 11-time Olympic medalist.
“This whole fight between Riley and Simone is NULL & VOID because the basis of the right’s attack is that she would lose medals in the men’s gym category when in reality, she would actually STEAL GOLDS from LOTS of the best Male floor and vault workers. So their base is FLAWED,” Phillips wrote via X on Friday.
Phillips said he was forced to mute the replies to his post.
“Nothing to debate about,” he wrote. “You’re just here to fight and insight violence. Goodbye.”
Jonathan Owens
Biles’ husband, a safety for the Chicago Bears, showed his support for his wife on Tuesday.
Owens, 29, shared Biles’ apology via his Instagram Story and commented with three white heart emojis.
Sophia Bush
The actress argued that Gaines’ vitriol toward Biles was rooted in the former swimmer’s own athletic aspirations coming to an end.
“She just can’t get over that she was never that good — would never be a champion like you — so she has to make it someone else’s fault,” Bush, 42, wrote via X on Friday. “It’s not that hard. Me? I’m an asthmatic who can’t keep up for shit. And I know it. NBD. Not my calling. Her? Never placed higher than 5th, right?? But I guess it’s 1% of the populations’ fault and not just the fact that she isn’t that fast? K. Sure. Makes total sense 
.”
Danica Patrick
The former race car driver decided to weigh in, supporting Gaines and her “common sense.”
“Defending men in women’s sports is the woke mind virus and/or another issue that requires therapy,” Patrick, 43, shared via her Instagram Story on Friday. “Either way, it is so irrational.”
Jemele Hill
The journalist replied to one of Gaines’ posts, calling Biles “a far better human being than you’ll ever be.”
“You are a trash person who can’t stop terrorizing a group of people for your own gain,” Hill, 49, wrote via X on Sunday, June 8. “Weaponizing sexual abuse is disgusting and shows you lack integrity, honor and decency. “I promise you will one day need the compassion you lack.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
