The Real Reason They’re Attacking Riley Gaines

Written by Dana Pico

As we note in our Stylebook, this site always refers to the ‘transgendered’ by their proper names and pronouns, the names and pronouns which reflect their actual sex, not the gender they claim to be. Thus, the person who Miss Marcotte referred to as “Lia Thomas” is actually Will Thomas. However, as our Stylebook also specifies, we do not alter direct quotes from others.

We have previously noted how Mr Thomas completely destroyed the real female competitors in the pool before he learned to hold back a bit. He won one women’s NCAA championship, and then started bagging the other races.

Despite the underwhelming facts of her tale, Gaines turned her unmemorable swim meet into the entire foundation of her career as a MAGA figurehead. She never had the chops to be a professional swimmer, but she has done well as a professional victim, devoting her life not just to eradicating trans women from sports, but to opposing trans rights altogether. Gaines compares trans women to rapists and pedophiles, and claims that LGBTQ rights activists wish to “fully eradicate women as a whole.” She even calls trans people and their allies “demonic” and aligns queer rights with Satanism.

It is absolutely true that Mrs Barker finished only fifth, tying with Mr Thomas for the NCAA 200-yard freestyle championship in 2022, but it is also true that she has a good record in Southeastern Conference championships. I am especially impressed with her gold medal in the 200-yard butterfly; I’d guess that none of her critics could swim the butterfly stroke for even a single length of the pool, 50 yards, without having a stroke, or a heart attack, themselves.

So, OK, Mrs Barker was good, but not quite good enough to become a professional swimmer or make an Olympic team. It seems that most of her critics like to slam her for that, because they don’t really want to address her major point, that males and females are not alike, and are in fact very different in ways that make a difference in competitive athletics.

There are some mixed sex teams in sports in which the size, speed, quickness, endurance, and strength differences between males and females does not make a significant difference, such as rifle teams and curling. But only a fool doesn’t recognize that those differences do exist.

That, and not her fifth place trophy, is why Gaines has become the face of the anti-trans movement. Simply put, she looks the part. Every demon possession story requires a cherubic — and ideally blonde — little girl to be the face of the “innocence” threatened by Satanic forces. Think Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” Heather O’Rourke in “Poltergeist” or the family of all daughters in “The Conjuring.” Although Gaines, at 25, is a grown woman, she has a round face and a girlish demeanor, making her able to evoke the trope of the demon-terrorized child that has captured the Christian right’s imagination for decades. . . . .

Wittingly or not, Gaines seems to understand that her ability to play the “victim” of these supposedly demonic trans forces depends on presenting herself as girlish. She favors fluffy lace, pink outfits. Despite promoting her athleticism, she avoids being seen as strong and capable, preferring sports photos that emphasize how “cute” and “lil” her clothes are. Gaines and her MAGA audience love to talk about how petite she is; in June, she even posted a video of her much-taller husband measuring her to “prove” she’s only 5 feet 5 inches tall. Since female swimmers, like their male counterparts, tend to be tall, the video only served to make Gaines look childish and came at the expense of her athletic image. Even her purported ambition — to have a swimming trophy — can be seen as childlike, especially as she never pursued a post-collegiate career as a professional swimmer.

So, Miss Marcotte is attacking Mrs Barker for her physical appearance, but not even doing that very well. The first two links take us to Instagram files and pictures which do not support the claims the author made, while the measuring the height video was in response to a tweet from gymnast Simone Biles. Of course, our fearless feminist from Philadelphia hasn’t been shy about writing disparagingly concerning other women’s appearances before, so this is not new ground for her.

Toward the end of her article, Miss Marcotte tells us that:

On a rational level, her story doesn’t make sense. Trans people haven’t taken anything from her. And with her swimming days behind her, they certainly aren’t a danger to her now.

Well, that’s technically true, but it’s like saying that, on a rational level, Miss Marcotte’s continual advocacy for abortion rights doesn’t make sense, because she’s 48 years old now, and her potential child-bearing days behind her. We all know she’d never accept that argument! That Mrs Barker is fighting for other women is a concept thar she can’t seem to grasp.

Will “Lia” Thomas, 26, accepted the “Voice of Inspiration Award” at the 2025 Violet Visionary Awards in LA. (Alejandro Avila/OutKick). Can you pick out the 6’3″ male?

 

 

But Miss Marcotte and all of the others seem to flee from one question: are males and females, men and women, boys and girls different, different in ways that actually make a difference in sports? The author noted that Mrs Barker’s husband is “much taller,” which is something that adult men and women normally are. She also noted that “female swimmers, like their male counterparts, tend to be tall,” which is noting that, since adult males are normally several inches taller than adult females, they have a physical advantage. Sexual dimorphism is a real thing.

Will Thomas is 6’3″ tall.

Swimming is a sport in which strength, quickness, and endurance are key . . . and men, on the whole, are stronger, quicker, and can develop greater endurance than women. I know that such a point outrages our friends on the left, but, sorry, their argument is with God, or evolution, or Mother Nature, however they wish to put it.

Miss Marcotte made a great deal about Mrs Barker’s Christian beliefs, mocking them as much as she could, but she never addressed the real question.

The supporters of transgenderism want us to believe that #TransWomenAreWomen, but to make that claim they have to ignore the physical differences between males and females. If they acknowledge those differences, their entire worldview of transgenderism falls apart.

Related Articles:

• Carol Marks, “Amanda Marcotte Really Wants Riley Gaines To Shut Up“
• Toni Williams, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Goes After Riley Gaines”
• Dana Pico, “That thing that never happens has happened again.”