ESPN honored transgender female athlete Lia Thomas in its “Celebrating Women’s History Month” segment. Former University of Kentucky 12-time All-American swimmer, Riley Gaines put ESPN on blast for the move. There’s history here between Thomas and Gaines.

If anyone has the right to criticize Lia Thomas, it is Riley Gaines. Riley tied with Lia, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer, at the NCAA championships last year. Since then, Riley has been at the forefront of speaking out against transgender athletes competing against biological women at the highest levels of competition. Thomas’ participation in women’s swimming set off a firestorm. Gaines is bold and brave to step up and speak out against the injustice of transgender athletes, like Lia Thomas, arrogantly insisting that they are entitled to compete against biological women in sports.

Good for Riley for letting ESPN know that she is angry. She called on women employees of ESPN to walk out.

“Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title,” Gaines tweeted Sunday. “He is arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible.

“If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You’re spineless @espn.”

Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title. He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible.

If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You're spineless @espn #boycottESPN https://t.co/DF3n5RWsmV

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 26, 2023

Riley is right. ESPN took a dark turn to the woke side a long time ago and now they are participating in the woke’s war on women. A biological man is not a woman, no matter how he frames the argument. It is cheating to compete as equals. Men are physically stronger and faster than women. In a sport like swimming, strength, and speed are the top two deciding factors in winning. This isn’t rocket science.

The NCAA allowed this battle to happen and Riley is fighting it. Other female college athletes are speaking up, too, thanks to Riley’s leadership. It’s not just a matter of canceling women in sports, it’s also a matter of fairness. Young women work throughout their school careers to be the best in their chosen sport and then compete for college scholarships. Thomas denied a biologically female student a place in the competition. What is the point of Title IX if it doesn’t fully protect opportunities for female athletes?

The ESPN segment on Thomas addressed her transition from male to female, the NCAA championship, and criticism Thomas receives for competing in swim competitions. “People will say, ‘Oh, she just transitioned so she would have an advantage so she could win.’ I transitioned to be happy,” Thomas says in the segment.

Thomas was the first transgender woman to win an Ivy League Championship and the NCAA Championship.

Here’s the thing – Thomas can transition to whatever he wants to be. Most people don’t care. The problem comes with his insistence that he is entitled to compete as a woman because now he identifies as a woman. Thomas is free to live his life as he sees fit. However, he is not entitled to compete as a woman against biological women just because he wants to do that. Competing in college-level sports is not a right, it is a privilege. It’s an earned privilege. The fact that the NCAA chose to ignore the reality of the situation is unacceptable. The NCAA betrayed every female college athlete. Now ESPN has betrayed them, too, all in the name of woke.

As I write this, ESPN has not released a comment on Riley’s criticism.

Tulsi Gabbard says it well.

There is no greater expression of hatred and hostility towards women than to try to erase our existence as a category of people and to minimize us to being a construction of anyone’s imagination. Such an expression of hatred towards women is now the position of the Democratic… pic.twitter.com/OCm1k6G9xH

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) March 26, 2023

ESPN may be too cowardly to defend its stupid mistake in honoring a biological male as a woman during Women’s History Month, but Riley came forward with her appreciation for others speaking out, as she is doing.

I'm so overjoyed to see more and more people feeling comfortable in publicly acknowledging how harmful the gender ideology propaganda being pushed really is (especially to women and children).

Keep being bold and loud. We are the overwhelming majority.

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 27, 2023

The only way to stop this insanity is to speak out against it. Good for Riley Gaines for showing the way to do it. Call it what it is. It’s cheating and robbing young women of opportunities they’ve worked hard to achieve. It’s a war on women.