"Growing your hair out doesn't make you a woman"- Riley Gaines slams transgender athlete for participating in women's Eight ball pool Championships
Riley Gaines has slammed a transgender athlete for participating in the women's Eight Ball Pool Championships. The former American competitive swimmer has always been critical of this sort of participation and is continuously raising her voice against it on social media.
Female athlete Kim O'Brien recently forfeited the final instead of competing against Harriet Haynes, a transgender woman, in the Eight Ball Pool Championships. Gaines lauded O'Brien's decision, as she shared an appreciation post on X (formerly Twitter).
Besides, the former American swimmer also said she would be giving the prize money amount to O'Brien which she missed for forfeiting the match. Riley Gaines wrote:
"I am happily paying her the prize money she lost out on. Stop playing their game. More of this."
The 23-year-old criticized Haynes for participating in the women's competitions.
"Newsfalsh: growing your hair out doesn't make you a woman. Refuse to compete and the madness ends," she wrote.
Gaines also applauded the decision of the Tennessee House recently to restrict the presence of LGBTQ+ flags. She urged other states to follow in the footsteps of the House.
Riley Gaines briefs about her new book
Former American swimmer Riley Gaines has written a book "Swimming Against the Current." The book is set for release on May 21, 2024.
While her first publication was solely based on the interest of young readers, the upcoming book is solely for adults. It is authored by A.J Gregory, an American writer, and falls under the category of non-fiction, political commentary.
Gaines has been an active advocate of women's rights in sports. Besides, in the book, Gaines also shares her perspective on the participation of transgender athletes in women's competitions including the 2022 NCAA Championships.
It was during the same tournament when Gaines was tied with Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete for the fifth position. Although both the swimmers registered at the same time at 1:43:40 Thomas was presented with the fifth place trophy and Gaines was handed the sixth position. This instance deeply hurt her.
Gaines announced the arrival of her book on her X handle with the caption:
"I did the thing & wrote a book! The message is pro-common sense, pro-reality, pro-truth, pro-woman. My new book "Swimming Against the Current" comes out May 2024. Preorder at link below."