{"id":93795,"date":"2023-06-21T19:30:29","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T00:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=93795"},"modified":"2023-06-21T19:35:18","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T00:35:18","slug":"93795","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=93795","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/riley-gaines-fact-checks-trangender-claims-as-democrats-push-for-gender-identity-as-protected-class\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Riley Gaines fact checks transgender claims as Democrats push for \u2018gender identity\u2019 as protected class<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>&#8216;Both Serena and Venus lost to the 203rd ranked male tennis player\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Riley Gaines was a key witness at a Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to push back against efforts by Democrats to pass the Equality Act, which would add \u201csexual orientation\u201d and \u201cgender identity\u201d as protected classes to the nation\u2019s nondiscrimination laws.<\/p>\n<p>During testimony Wednesday, panelist Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, refused to concede that biological men have an advantage over biological women in sports. Robison cited the claim that men cannot beat Serena Williams in tennis.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to weigh in, Gaines quickly shut down the claim. \u201cBoth Serena and Venus lost to the 203rd ranked male tennis player, which \u2014 they\u2019re phenoms for women,\u201d Gaines said.<\/p>\n<p>She also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/greg_price11\/status\/1671548075230257152\/\" rel=\"noopener\">explained<\/a>\u00a0that even though she has more accolades and national rankings as an NCAA swimmer from the University of Kentucky than her husband \u2014 who also swam competitively for the school \u2014 \u201che could kick my butt any day of the week, without trying.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dem witness: &quot;There&#39;s been this news article about men that think they can beat Serena Williams in tennis. And it&#39;s just not the case. She is stronger than them.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Riley_Gaines_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Riley_Gaines_<\/a>: &quot;Both Serena and Venus lost to the 203rd ranked male tennis player.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MSAnV6IA5t\">pic.twitter.com\/MSAnV6IA5t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/greg_price11\/status\/1671548075230257152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 21, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It was one highlight reel among many produced by Gaines, a spokeswoman for the Independent Women\u2019s Forum, as she told senators that gender identity policies that allow men to compete against women \u201cexclude female athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At times Gaines\u2019 testimony was emotional, and she appeared to hold back tears as she spoke of changing in the locker room alongside biological male and fellow NCAA swimmer Lia \u201cWill\u201d Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA 6-foot-4, 22-year-old male equipped with and exposing mail genitalia. \u2026 No one asked for our consent and we did not give our consent,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026 We were forced to take our swimsuit off in front of a male who was doing the exact same thing, if nothing else I truly hope how you can see this is a violation to our right to privacy and how some of us have felt uncomfortable, embarrassed and even traumatized by this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/Ctw0WVJtFEv\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=750&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecollegefix.com&amp;rp=%2Friley-gaines-fact-checks-trangender-claims-as-democrats-push-for-gender-identity-as-protected-class%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A3450.5%7D\" height=\"949\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBelieving in biology is not bigoted. \u2026 It is fact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She added she does not believe transgender athletes should not compete, she just asks they compete against athletes who are of the same sex.<\/p>\n<p>The comments came during the \u201cProtecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans\u201d committee hearing. It was chaired by Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, who opened the hearing praising\u00a0<em>Obergefell v. Hodges<\/em>\u00a0and the Respect for Marriage Act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPride began with an act of resistance,\u201d he said. \u201cToday we draw from that spirit to acknowledge and defend the LGTBQ community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republican Sen. Linsey Graham followed Durbin, acknowledging the importance of civil discourse. Graham immediately directed the conversation to women\u2019s athletics and equal opportunity for women and girls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTitle IX was passed in 1972 to ensure that women would have a place in college athletics,\u201d Sen. Graham said. \u201cYoung girls are working hard, and on occasion they are having to compete against a biological male. And it is common sense that there is a biological advantage for males.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matt Sharp, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, also testified for the GOP on behalf of women and children. He argued that in addition to locker rooms, shelters and prisons are also affected by the \u201cSOGI\u201d laws, which stand for sexual orientation and gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to a situation in which biological men who identify as women are allowed to sleep at a battered women\u2019s shelter, adding: \u201cLaws and policies that promote gender identity ideology violate women\u2019s rights [and] endanger children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sharp also pointed to how free speech rights are being eroded, such as a recent case in which a student was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/adfmedia.org\/case\/lm-v-town-middleborough\" rel=\"noopener\">punished<\/a>\u00a0for wearing a T-Shirt that said there are only two genders.<\/p>\n<p>The committee hearing also featured Alabama resident Harleigh Walker, a transgender woman who argued \u201cbeing transgender is not a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am just trying to be a teenager in America. \u2026 I am having to spend my spring break lobbying for my right to exist,\u201d Walker said. \u201cThese are human rights handing in the balance. We are just like your neighbor, just like your kid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ximena Lopez, a transgender health specialist, was also a panelist who argued \u201cgender health providers and hospitals are being attacked by extremists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a dangerous precedent for our society as a whole and harms us all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBanning gender affirming care interferes with the ethical principles of medicine which includes patient autonomy, do no harm, and to provide the best treatment available. Physicians are being left to decide whether they should violate their medical ethics or break the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, also said there are more than two genders and added \u201cgender is expansive and always growing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Riley Gaines fact checks transgender claims as Democrats push for \u2018gender identity\u2019 as protected class &#8216;Both Serena and Venus lost to the 203rd ranked male tennis player\u2019 Riley Gaines was a key witness at a Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to push back against efforts by Democrats to pass the Equality Act, which would add &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=93795\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-medicine","category-vid-o-the-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93795"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93797,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93795\/revisions\/93797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}