It has been almost three years since anti-trans activist Riley Gaines tied for 5th place with a trans opponent in an NCAA swimming competition. Yet Gaines continues to allow what she has deemed this gross injustice to shape her entire life.

Gaines has used the non-situation to build a career in anti-trans activism. Her argument that trans women uniformly possess unfair physical advantages over cisgender women has evolved over the past two years to include broader anti-trans claims, including that trans women pose a threat to cis women’s safety. She has become a darling of conservative media, which has allowed her to spew hateful misinformation.

Related

The absurdity of being Riley Gaines
Her life story would be an absurd premise for a tragedy, but she’s always the main character.

And folks have had enough.

LGBTQ+ news you can rely on

Keep track of the ongoing battle against bias and for equality with our newsletter.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Replies to Gaines’s most recent anti-trans post on X – which yet again brings up her fifth-place tie – are overwhelmingly riddled with people mocking her for her inability to move on, with many pointing out she didn’t even lose to the trans swimmer, Lia Thomas, and still placed behind four cisgender women in the race.

On October 1, Gaines angrily responded to Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz for saying his party is “pro-women” when it comes to reproductive rights. Gaines somehow made the comment about her, turned it into an issue about trans women in sports.

“Did Tim Walz REALLY just say they’re ‘pro-women’ ?????” Gaines wrote on X. “Then explain this to me like I’m 5.” Accompanying the post was a photo of Gaines and Thomas at the competition.

Responders ruthlessly made fun of Gaines both for refusing to move on from a school sports event and for failing to understand that Walz’s comment was about abortion rights. They also pointed out that four cis women also beat Thomas, negating Gaines’s arguments that trans women are at an advantage or that a trans woman stole anything from her.