Riley Gaines lauds University of Nevada for boycotting match against SJSU volleyball team for the presence of reported trans-athlete Blaire Fleming

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Nov 20, 2024 10:25 GMT

Riley Gaines has been supportive of the boycott against the San Jose State University women's volleyball team for the presence of a reported trans-athlete, Blaire Fleming. The 24-year-old social activist recently shared some photographs from the press conference held by the team players of the University of Nevada, who boycotted the match against the wishes of the university administration.

Gaines took to her X account [formerly Twitter] to express her thoughts. She wrote,

"The @NevadaWVB volleyball team was supposed to play @SanJoseStateVB today. SJSU has a man on their team. Instead of playing, they held a press conference during game time and shared why they're holding the line. Major kudos to their bravery & leadership #Boycott"

University of Nevada Reno was scheduled to play against San Jose State Spartans at the Mountain West Conference on October 27. Instead, the players held a joint press conference to explain why they were compelled to take this decision.

Riley Gaines has been supportive of the boycott from the very beginning. With the current decision, the University of Nevada became the fifth educational institution to boycott its match against the San Jose State University.

Boise State University, Southern Utah University, the University of Wyoming, and the University of Utah had officially boycotted their matches scheduled against the women's volleyball team from San Jose State University.

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Riley Gaines on Seattle Storm's open support to Kamala Harris

Riley Gaines on her criticism of Kamala Harris [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source : Getty]

Riley Gaines has been on a persistent campaign to keep trans-athletes out of women's sports. She has been critical of the current US administration, led by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Recently, WNBA team Seattle Storm openly announced their decision to support Kamala Harris for her Presidential campaign. Gaines criticized this move and posted on her X account,

""The WNBA is so unserious. I've never seen an organization so committed to its own self-destruction"

Gaines has been campaigning against the Title IX changes endorsed by the current US administration. According to the proposed changes, additional security would be provided to athletes from the LGBTQ+ category from any kind of discrimination. However, critics led by Gaines are of the opinion that this move would only make things worse for female athletes, as well as women's sports overall.

Riley Gaines first came into the limelight for her views on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who had defeated many swimmers, including Gaines, to gain the fifth-place trophy at the NCAA Championships in 2022. However, Gaines protested against this by suing the NCAA along with 15 other athletes.

She succeeded in her efforts partially, when the World Aquatics announced a judgment, that prevented transgender athletes from participating further in elite women's events, including the Olympics. Thomas appealed against the decision but lost her appeal in early 2024 when CAS upheld the judgment pronounced by the World Aquatics.