Riley Gaines On Transgender Athletes: "What About WOMEN Losing Out On Opportunities?" — Transcript

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1. 0:00Now, when swimmer Riley Gaines made
2. 0:01global headlines when she tied with
3. 0:03athlete Lia Thomas, who's a transgender
4. 0:05swimmer.
5. 0:06Um, this is a person, of course, who's
6. 0:07been dominating now women's swimming in
7. 0:09America despite having competed
8. 0:11unsuccessfully as a biological male.
9. 0:14Well, unlike many people in the same
10. 0:16position afraid of vilification, abuse,
11. 0:17and cancellation, Riley spoke out about
12. 0:20it. She took a stand for women's
13. 0:21athletes across the world.
14. 0:23And as a result of that stand, she was
15. 0:25last week physically assaulted and
16. 0:27abused and howled at after being invited
17. 0:30to speak at San Francisco State
18. 0:32University. Well, this weekend, I spoke
19. 0:34up for Riley Gaines in a debate on Bill
20. 0:36Maher's HBO show Real Time while
21. 0:39debating a Democratic congresswoman
22. 0:40Katie Porter.
23. 0:43We talked about people, you know,
24. 0:44becoming using things to kind of get
25. 0:47likes and get clicks. That's not what
26. 0:49she's doing. I mean, I I've got no truck
27. 0:51with Riley Gaines personally, but all
28. 0:53I've seen her do is stand up for women's
29. 0:55rights to fairness and equality. She
30. 0:56She competed against Lia Thomas and it
31. 0:59was obviously unfair. Lia Thomas won one
32. 1:02of the races in the NCAA championships
33. 1:04by 50 seconds against a bunch of
34. 1:07biological females who simply couldn't
35. 1:09keep up. That cannot be right. It cannot
36. 1:11be fair. That is something
37. 1:14that
38. 1:15I trust
39. 1:16I think our sporting bodies should be
40. 1:18dealing with. And by the way, Riley is
41. 1:21speaking up for herself
42. 1:23and that is her prerogative and I
43. 1:24respect her free speech.
44. 1:26she's speaking up for pretty much every
45. 1:27female athlete in the world.
46. 1:31Now, that debate was astonishing on
47. 1:32several levels. First thing that it fell
48. 1:34to me and Bill Maher to defend women's
49. 1:36rights against a woman arguing against
50. 1:39them. And secondly, that the audience
51. 1:41packed with liberal Californians, a
52. 1:42pretty woke crowd normally, were
53. 1:44watching a famous liberal comedian and
54. 1:47sided overwhelmingly with Bill and me
55. 1:50defending Riley Gaines and women's
56. 1:53rights to fairness. So, I'm joined now
57. 1:54by Riley Gaines. So, Riley, great to see
58. 1:56you. Um, I don't know whether you still
59. 1:59got a chance to actually watch what went
60. 2:00down on the Bill Maher show, but it was
61. 2:02fascinating to see the audience reaction
62. 2:04because they completely agreed with me
63. 2:07when I defended you and did not agree
64. 2:09with the woman in the room.
65. 2:11Absolutely. Um, when I watched this
66. 2:13back, I you just can't help but laugh.
67. 2:16Just like you mentioned, it's ironic.
68. 2:18It's always women fighting against
69. 2:20women's sex-protected spaces and rights.
70. 2:22It blows my mind, but I so appreciate
71. 2:24both you and Bill standing up for myself
72. 2:26because you hit the nail on the head.
73. 2:28I'm speaking for every female athlete,
74. 2:31not just myself. I'm done competing.
75. 2:33This isn't about me, um, but I know
76. 2:35what's at stake if someone doesn't use
77. 2:37their voice. Um, I have a younger
78. 2:39sister. I just got married. I can only
79. 2:41hope one day that I have a daughter and
80. 2:42I can't imagine being in this position
81. 2:44and not fighting for them. But also, I'm
82. 2:46fighting for the present female
83. 2:48athletes, Lia Thomas's teammates even,
84. 2:50who have their voices suppressed. They
85. 2:52see what happens to me when I go to San
86. 2:54Francisco State and they don't want to
87. 2:55put themselves in a position where
88. 2:57speaking out would would garner that for
89. 2:59them.
90. 3:00Right. So, it it's a lot bigger than
91. 3:02just myself. And to see Representative
92. 3:03Katie Porter even say that, it just it
93. 3:05clearly shows she knows nothing about
94. 3:07what I've been doing this past year.
95. 3:09Nothing has been for personal
96. 3:11advancement. Nothing has been for
97. 3:12monetary value for me. Um, my I was
98. 3:15supposed to be in dental school this
99. 3:16year. So, by no means did I even feel
100. 3:18equipped to do what I'm doing. This is
101. 3:20not about me. And and hearing her say
102. 3:22that showed her true ignorance.
103. 3:24No, I completely I completely agree. And
104. 3:26in fact, Lia Thomas today tweeted the
105. 3:28following, "It breaks my heart to see
106. 3:29trans kids across the country lose out
107. 3:31on these opportunities. During a time of
108. 3:33anti-trans backlash, the trans community
109. 3:35needs explicit protections from
110. 3:37discrimination in order to live our
111. 3:38lives free and equally. All trans kids
112. 3:41deserve the opportunity to compete and
113. 3:42play in the sports they love without
114. 3:44compromising who they are." Now, my
115. 3:46problem with that, and I think you
116. 3:47picked up on this as well in your
117. 3:48response to Lia Thomas, is "Well, what
118. 3:51about fairness and equality for for the
119. 3:53women? For biological females?" Because
120. 3:55clearly, what Lia Thomas, a 6'4" inch
121. 3:58biological male who did not compete
122. 4:00successfully against men, but is now
123. 4:03demolishing women in national
124. 4:05championships, clearly that is unfair.
125. 4:07Now, I want trans athletes to have
126. 4:10fairness and equality. I want them to be
127. 4:12able to play sport, but not at the
128. 4:13expense of women's rights.
129. 4:17Exactly. The first sentence you you
130. 4:19said, I believe it was if it Lia Thomas
131. 4:22quoted saying, you know, "It breaks my
132. 4:23heart to see trans kids lose out lose
133. 4:25out on opportunities."
134. 4:27You're exactly right. Replace that with
135. 4:29the word woman. Does it still break
136. 4:31Thomas's heart to see women lose out on
137. 4:33opportunities? Because that's exactly
138. 4:34what's happening. From my experience
139. 4:36competing against Lia Thomas at the
140. 4:38national championships, I watched
141. 4:40firsthand women lose out on
142. 4:42opportunities. I watched women not
143. 4:44become all-Americans, missing that ninth
144. 4:46and or that eighth and 16th place by one
145. 4:48place because they were displaced by a
146. 4:49male. This, of course, goes against
147. 4:51everything that Title IX was created to
148. 4:53protect. And now we have,
149. 4:55um, the Biden administration, the people
150. 4:57in the White House who are actively
151. 4:58working to rewrite Title IX. And Title
152. 5:00IX, for those who don't know, originated
153. 5:02in the '70s, was designed to bring
154. 5:04equality and fairness, uh, irrespective
155. 5:07of gender to schools and education and
156. 5:10in particular to school sport. And
157. 5:12clearly, that is now not happening. And
158. 5:14the Biden administration are effectively
159. 5:17endorsing this unfairness.
160. 5:19Absolutely. That's exactly what they're
161. 5:21doing. Um, Title IX is a several civil
162. 5:23federal rights law that ensures women
163. 5:26essentially have the same opportunities
164. 5:28as men, whether that be athletically,
165. 5:29academically, the same amount of
166. 5:31scholarships.
167. 5:32We saw women fight for this in the '70s.
168. 5:34We saw someone as as as amazing as
169. 5:37Billie Jean King, um, Megan Rapinoe,
170. 5:39these are feminists who fought for
171. 5:42women's rights. But now, both of these
172. 5:44women, along with the Biden
173. 5:45administration, they're actively working
174. 5:47to undermine everything they once fought
175. 5:49for.
176. 5:50Rapinoe was out there tweeting away
177. 5:52that, you know, this is all
178. 5:54uh all fantastic and of course, trans
179. 5:56athletes should be doing this. And I
180. 5:58made the point, uh, well, how would she
181. 6:00have felt if she'd lost her place in the
182. 6:02national women's soccer team, which was
183. 6:05obviously they were world champions, to
184. 6:07a trans athlete who was 5 inches taller,
185. 6:10stronger, faster, and much better at
186. 6:13football, but who'd been unsuccessful
187. 6:15playing in a men's team? How would she
188. 6:16have felt then?
189. 6:18Well, if you've ever seen Megan Rapinoe
190. 6:20play, she's a very tough, aggressive
191. 6:23player. So, I can tell you exactly what
192. 6:25I think she would have done. Um, I think
193. 6:27she genuinely would have shoved someone
194. 6:28who tried to take her spot, a male who
195. 6:30tried to take her spot. And I think it's
196. 6:32worth mentioning that she's done
197. 6:34playing. She has nothing to lose. She
198. 6:37doesn't have a daughter to defend. So,
199. 6:39for her, what to lose by by almost
200. 6:41virtue signaling, by coming off as kind
201. 6:44and inclusive and welcoming and
202. 6:45accepting and tolerant and loving and
203. 6:47all of the things. But in reality, it's
204. 6:50not kind to ask a girl to share a locker
205. 6:52room with a man who's fully equipped
206. 6:54with an exposing male parts. And it's
207. 6:56not inclusive to ask a woman to smile
208. 6:59and step aside right on the podium so
209. 7:01man can take her trophy and take her
210. 7:03spot and her honors.
211. 7:05Yeah, I I just find this whole debate
212. 7:07completely baffling. I don't understand
213. 7:09why every woman in the world wouldn't
214. 7:11join together and say this is
215. 7:13outrageous. And it's the treachery from
216. 7:15women like the Democrat congresswoman
217. 7:18Katie Porter,
218. 7:19uh, like Megan Rapinoe, like these
219. 7:21others who who should be doing a lot
220. 7:23better than they are. But you know what?
221. 7:25A lot of women are scared. They're
222. 7:26scared to do what you've done. You know,
223. 7:28you went to San Francisco State
224. 7:29University. And you know, you you were
225. 7:31in fear of your life with that mob. And
226. 7:33it was terrifying.
227. 7:35Absolutely. It sure was. I was
228. 7:37essentially I mean, I know you saw the
229. 7:39video, but I was physically assaulted
230. 7:41and I was held for ransom for 3 hours. I
231. 7:43mean, these people who barricaded me in
232. 7:45this room, they were demanding money if
233. 7:46I wanted to make it home safely. Which
234. 7:49then the dean of students was actually
235. 7:51negotiating with them. It's like, you
236. 7:52know, why are we negotiating my safe
237. 7:54passage home? This is crazy. But you're
238. 7:56exactly right. Um, these girls, they're
239. 7:58terrified. They're scared. Parents are
240. 8:00even scared. They don't want to lose
241. 8:01their job. Coaches, athletic directors,
242. 8:03no one wants to be in a position where
243. 8:05you you ruffle feathers or step on toes,
244. 8:07but that's what it's going to take. It's
245. 8:09going to take sacrifices. It's going to
246. 8:11take girls not willing to get up on that
247. 8:13starting block. Not jump when the gun
248. 8:15blows. Um, we need people who are
249. 8:17willing to take that next step. And I
250. 8:20know it's unfortunate that it's come to
251. 8:21these circumstances to have to make
252. 8:24change, but that's what it's going to
253. 8:26take. Riley, you're a gutsy woman. I've
254. 8:29got to tell you. I've got great
255. 8:30admiration for you and what you go
256. 8:32through to make this point because it's
257. 8:34so important. It's basically the
258. 8:36integrity of women's sport is at risk,
259. 8:39real risk of being irrevocably
260. 8:41destroyed. And I think that you people
261. 8:43like you, uh, should just be applauded
262. 8:47by women around the world for making a
263. 8:48stand and doing at great personal risk,
264. 8:51uh, to yourself. So, well done to you.
265. 8:53Keep it going and you'll always have me
266. 8:55in your corner.
267. 8:56Of course. Thank you so much, Piers.
268. 8:58All the best. Thanks, Riley.