The College Fix

‘In my conversations with these people — 95 percent of them agreed with protecting women’s sports — they are too scared to say it’

Accomplished former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who continues to help lead the national battle to block biological males from competing in women’s sports, told The College Fix in a recent interview that college leaders secretly support her — but won’t say so publicly.

Gaines, interviewed by The College Fix as she attended the Conservative Political Action Conference, was asked what she believes is the most important thing colleges can do to protect women’s sports.

She said its leaders need to tell the truth.

“I think the most important thing colleges can specifically do to protect women’s sports is stand firm in how they genuinely feel,” Gaines told The Fix.

“I was present at the NCAA convention, where I got a booth similar to the set up of this convention, where athletic directors would walk around, all the presidents of universities, chancellors, and I had the chance to talk to all of them.”

What they told her might sound surprising given their public stances.

“They all said to me, ‘Keep doing what you are doing, we support you, we just can’t do it publicly,'” Gaines said.

She said the college leaders told her they would face retaliation and lawsuits if they stood against the demands to allow biological males to compete as women against women.

“‘We can’t handle that, so keep doing what you are doing, keep fighting this fight,'” she said they told her.

“I can’t even tell you how frustrating that is to have these people who have the power to make these changes basically look me and my teammates, and the other people I am advocating with, in my face and tell me ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, we have the power to help, and we think we should help, but we’re not going to help,'” Gaines said.

“I even talked to the former president of the NCAA Mark Emmert — who allowed all this to happen — and he said keep doing what you are doing, we support you, we agree with you,” Gaines said. “So in my conversations with these people — 95 percent of them agreed with protecting women’s sports — they are too scared to say it.”

“So we need these people who have these powerful roles and these boards of governors to make changes that will protect women,” Gaines added.

“We know it’s fair, we know it’s right, we know it’s moral — why aren’t they doing it? Why are the women collateral damage to affirm these males identities? So that is what colleges and universities need to do, they need to protect women.”

MORE: Female athletes hand-deliver legal demand letter to NCAA: ‘Keep women’s sports female’

IMAGE: Instagram screenshot

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter