Biden's Title IX Rule 'Abolished' the Law's Purpose, Says Olympic Swimmer Riley Gaines

Olympic swimmer Riley Gaines joins 'Fox News Live' to criticize Biden's Title IX rule, which allows transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. Gaines argues that the rule undermines the law's original intent to provide equal opportunities for female athletes.

Olympic swimmer Riley Gaines joined 'Fox News Live' on Wednesday to weigh in on Biden's Title IX rule, which allows transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. Gaines argued that the rule undermines the law's original intent to provide equal opportunities for female athletes.

"The purpose of Title IX was to abolish discrimination against women in education, including athletics," Gaines said. "But this new rule has essentially abolished the purpose of the law by allowing biological males to compete in women's sports."

Biden's Title IX Rule 'Abolished' the Law's Purpose, Says Olympic Swimmer Riley Gaines

Gaines pointed to the recent controversy surrounding CeCé Telfer, a transgender athlete who won an NCAA women's track and field championship in 2019. Telfer has vowed to return to indoor competition and "take all the names, all the records, and everything."

Gaines argued that Telfer's physical advantages as a biological male give her an unfair advantage over female athletes. "She's 6'4", has a 48-inch chest, and wears a size 13 shoe," Gaines said. "There's no way that a biological female can compete with that."

Biden's Title IX Rule 'Abolished' the Law's Purpose, Says Olympic Swimmer Riley Gaines

Gaines said that the Title IX rule will have a devastating impact on women's sports. "It's going to destroy women's sports," she said. "Women have fought for decades to achieve equality in sports, and this rule takes it all away."

Gaines called on Congress to overturn the Title IX rule and protect women's sports. "We need to stand up for women's rights and ensure that they have a fair and equal opportunity to compete in sports," she said.

The NCAA has yet to outline specific rules regarding transgender athletes in sports. The NCAA said it would follow the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and each sport would follow the national governing body for each sport. If there was no national governing body, then each sport would abide by the international policy. The NCAA updated its transgender policy starting on Jan. 19, 2022, and the final implementation begins on Aug. 1.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) banned transgender athletes in women's sports earlier this year. The NAIA said its decision was rooted in "fair and safe competition for all student-athletes" and that "Title IX ensures there are separate and equal opportunities for female athletes." The organization said only athletes whose biological sex is female may participate in "NAIA-sponsored female sports." The policy goes into effect on Aug. 1.

Telfer, who competed for Franklin Pierce University, was "heartbroken" and "distraught" over the rules. "Because I'm like, why are we going back? Why are we reverting? We're literally going back in history," Telfer said. "This is not real life, because we were moving forward and now we're moving backwards. This is scary. The fact that people are powerful enough to move backwards is scary, not only for transgender women, but it should be scary for society at large because people think that [anti-trans advocates are] going to stop at transgender women. No. They've always been policing women's bodies. It's going down to cis women and what's going on in their lives and their bodies."

"It breaks my heart because I had an opportunity. The NCAA saw me. They gave me a chance to be that voice and be that physical change, and they were taking a step in the right direction and obviously creating history, hoping that other organizations would follow."