Latest news with #transinclusion
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Riley Gaines, activist athletes call for prosecution against officials letting males in women's sports
Thursday marked exactly four months since President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order. But incidents of trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports continue to persist across the country. Democrat-stronghold states like California, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington have openly defied the order and deferred instead to their state laws on the issue, resulting in national controversies involving biological males competing in and often dominating high school girls' sports in recent months. The Trump administration has launched investigations and even filed lawsuits to counter this wave of incidents. But press secretary Karoline Leavitt has suggested the administration could go a step further. In an April 18 press conference, while discussing Maine's defiance on the issue, Leavitt asserted Trump's order and Title IX as federal law, noting that violators could be "prosecuted." Since then, many Democrat-controlled states like Maine and California have refused to acquiesce to Trump's demands. Former NCAA swimmer and conservative influencer Riley Gaines, the leading figure in the national movement to keep males out of women's sports, told Fox News Digital that she would support prosecution as a response to the issue. "I would love to see prosecution because I believe what is happening is criminal," Gaines said. "The way that we have been told that a man's feelings matter more than our physical safety, than our rights to participate, to call ourselves champions, I believe that is a criminal action, therefore I believe it is a criminal offense. "Someone somewhere has to be made an example of, otherwise you will have the woman-hating Democratic Party continue with full steam ahead. Gaines, who infamously tied with trans swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA women's championships, was only one of many women who were impacted by Thomas' participation. The event was hosted at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Gaines said she believes that the school's president, Angel Cabrera, is one of the first that should be in line for prosecution over the issue. "I believe university officials should be charged. I believe certainly that in the state of Georgia, that the Georgia Tech president, who has continued to be very smug, who has continued to not attest or answer to any of the claims that we are making that happened on his pool deck," Gaines said of those who should be prosecuted. Fox News Digital has reached out to Georgia Tech for comment. Gaines leads a lawsuit against the NCAA over her experience with Thomas alongside several other women's swimmers who competed in the 2022 championships. Those plaintiffs include former University of Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler and former University of North Carolina swimmer Kylee Alons. Wheeler and Alons both agree with Gaines in supporting criminal prosecution against officials who have allowed trans athletes to compete in women's sports. "I think that if schools, official states, whatever it is, are knowingly defying the law and violating Title IX especially by forcing girls to share locker rooms, change in front of boys, lose out on their opportunities, everything Title IX is supposed to stand for, I think there should be serious consequences," Wheeler told Fox News Digital. "We're not just talking about policy disagreements, this is about knowingly stripping rights away from women and girls. If you break federal law there should be consequences like Riley said, and if that means prosecution in some of these states, then yeah, bring it on." Alons questioned how one could not be in favor of prosecution against those officials. "When you see the harm that this is causing women and girls, how could you not want to support prosecuting defying this?" Alons told Fox News Digital. "There's just so much harm being done and obviously there is a law for a reason, because it is causing harm so I would definetely support more action than just empty threats." The attorney representing Gaines, Wheeler, Alons and other women in their lawsuit against the NCAA, William Bock of the Independent Council on Women's Sports, not only supports the notion of prosecuting officials letting the issue continue, but believes it's "necessary." "At this point there's no excuse, the executive order has been in place since February 5," Bock told Fox News Digital. "People have known for four months now, and if three-four months later, you're still knowingly defying federal law, then of course a prosecution makes sense, and it's evidently necessary to protect women." So far, Trump's enforcement of his executive order has only extended to a funding freeze to the University of Pennsylvania, where Thomas competed, temporary funding pauses against Maine that have since ended, and a Department of Justice lawsuit against Maine too. Trump's administration has launched investigations against three other state high school sports leagues (California, Minnesota and Massachusetts) and the DOJ has given California a deadline of this upcoming Monday to amend its policies that allow trans athletes in girls' sports. Gaines, Wheeler and Alons all find Trump's stance on the issue "refreshing" but would generally like to see more action. "Hopefully we'll see enough with the warnings, that's how I feel," Gaines said. "We're ready to see some action." Wheeler added, "The executive order is a good start, but we need more than that signature, we need really enforceable protection that will supersede his presidency… it's a step in the right direction, but we're not satisfied." At the college level, Trump's executive order resulted in a change to the NCAA's gender eligibility policy just one day after the order was signed. Unlike the old policy, the new policy asserts that only females can compete in the women's category in official competition. However, the new policy has come under heavy criticism by women's rights activists since it was signed for offering no tangible outline of how it will enforce the policy, and a lack of enforcing gender testing. In late March, Ithaca College in New York admitted to letting a trans athlete compete in a Division III rowing competition, telling Fox News Digital that the participation of the trans athlete was due to a "misunderstanding" by the coaching staff about what was considered an official NCAA event, and referenced the policy's allowing of male practice players. The NCAA has provided a statement to Fox News Digital, saying the competition the Ithaca trans athlete competed in "will be considered a mixed team and not eligible to compete against women's teams. Ithaca stated their intent to adhere to the policy which allows for practice opportunities and the NCAA appreciates Ithaca's responsiveness." But the NCAA did not indicate that the results of the event would be voided or that Ithaca would face any consequences. The initial goal of the Gaines vs. NCAA lawsuit was to force the governing body to keep biological males out of women's college sports entirely. In the wake of the policy change, the lawsuit's goal remains intact but also expanded. "We've reached out to the NCAA and their attorneys and we've given them the opportunity to resolve this matter at least, if we can't reach an agreement on accountability for the past, to put in place a policy that actually protects women and has some enforceability behind it and ensures that only women participate in college women's sports," Bock said. "We put that in writing and they haven't gone down that route with us… their policy is toothless and ineffective and doesn't protect the rights of women." Bock added that their lawsuit will also be seeking monetary damages for all the female athletes who have been affected. "These are significant damages and there were several hundred women were harmed and we think that a jury in Georgia is going to find that damage amount very significant." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
New mom marathoner says Olympian helped spark threats and hate against her for opposing trans inclusion
On April 19, U.S. Olympic middle distance runner Nikki Hiltz posted a TikTok video that included footage of an interview with women's marathon runner Natalie Daniels. The post came just two days before Daniels was set to compete in the Boston Marathon, and just six months after she gave birth to her first child. Hiltz's TikTok opened with a clip of Daniels sharing how she considered not competing in the marathon because biologically male trans athletes would be competing in the women's field. The clip was originally from a promotional interview with the activist sportswear brand XX-XY Athletics. In the same post on the popular social media platform, Hiltz encouraged Daniels to drop out because of her concerns about trans inclusion, while disagreeing with the new mother's stance against it. For Hiltz, the post was in line with the athlete's regular TikTok content, which often shows the Olympian promoting pro-transgender beliefs and arguing against opposition to trans inclusion in sports. Hiltz is a biologically female athlete who competes in the women's category, while identifying as transgender and non-binary. Soon after Hiltz's TikTok post went live, the reaction from it was aimed at Daniels, who said many of Hiltz's followers and fans began to send her startling messages. "I didn't think there would be this rabid cruelty," Daniels told Fox News Digital of the response she received from the interview. "People were trying to find us when we were in Boston." Daniels alleges one person told her, "'I live in Boston, and if I see you on the street, I'm going to hunt you down.'" The new mother said the worst alleged comment she saw was from a person who said, "'I hope that your son comes out as trans and never speaks to you again.'" Her son was only six months old at the time. Daniels said she ultimately takes responsibility for the messages directed towards her and her family. Still, she cited Hiltz's TikTok for contributing to the backlash. "[Hiltz] has freedom of speech also. So [Hiltz's] opinion is just as valid to be shared as mine is," Daniels said. "I think [Hiltz] encouraged a pile-on that got really out of hand, probably, I think, very quickly … I think the fact that [Hiltz] didn't do anything about it is unsurprising. "I think I'm ultimately responsible for what I said. And I know that what I said was said out of love and a desire to continue supporting and encouraging women and women's sports." Still, it didn't make the experience any easier for Daniels. "The very hateful messages were upsetting. There were a few times where I would just be, I don't want to cry, but a few times I would just start crying," she said. "And I would tell my husband, 'I'm sorry, it's just like a lot, it's a lot to deal with, to have people being like 'You're this evil hateful bigot,' or 'You're stupid.'" "Instead of having this very rational engagement, they went straight to threats and violence." Fox News Digital reached out to Hiltz's talent agency, Hawi Management, for a response. When the day of the Boston Marathon came, April 21, Daniels was prepared for potential attacks and heckling against her on the course after getting messages warning her of it, she alleges. But instead, she only ever heard roaring chants of support, she claims. She even had one of her best finishes, reaching the finish line in 2:50:04 in 110th place. The love continued on social media, as she saw an outpouring of praise and respect that eventually overshadowed the support she was getting for standing up for women's sports and appearing in the XX-XY Athletics interview to begin with. For Daniels, it helped validate a decision that she made, partially due to the experience of becoming a new mother. Daniels said that during her pregnancy, a trip to an obstetrician included a survey that assumed the only reason she was pregnant was due to failed birth control, and not her own intentions. "In society, I just feel like there is this reductive definition of what it means to be a woman, and what it means to be a woman is basically one thing, and it's access to abortion. And in our culture, that just kinda seems like that's all any of us are supposed to care about," Daniels, a native of Virginia, said. She added that the survey, and the growing cultural stigmatization of pregnancy, fed right into her passion for protecting female athletes from trans inclusion as well. "I know those things may be different things, but it all ties into this dehumanization of women. To me it feels like in this culture, in this political climate, womanhood is this incredibly nebulous, undefinable thing," she added. The decision earned Daniels praise and support during the marathon and online but not from her running club, Light Horse Track Club in Washington, D.C., which she alleges was more aligned with Hiltz than her. Daniels said she was confronted by the decision to appear in the XX-XY Athletics interview by the club's leadership. Daniels said she offered to make a statement clarifying that her stance wasn't meant to attack trans people for their identities, but to stand up for women like herself. But that wasn't going to be enough, she said. She alleges they offered to let her continue running for the club if she would issue an apology and publicly recognize the ability for a biological male to become a woman, which she refused to do. Daniels alleges that she was told by the club that in order to appease its directors, she had to share a statement on social media that read: "'I now understand that a person can take hormones and surgery, and they can become a woman.'" "I was like, 'I am not going to do that. I cannot do that…' It goes completely against my Christian values," she said. "It goes completely against what I know about how God works." Daniels said she then found out about her removal from the team via a text message and email from the board while she was sitting on her patio. So now, she is starting her own running club with XX-XY Athletics and founder Jennifer Sey. And while she is still adjusting to the regular online hate, and even the occasional heckle from spectators at competitions, Daniels said she is looking forward to raising her family and embracing her new role in the movement to keep trans athletes out of women's sports. The Light Horse Track Club did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
High school girls allege track meet officials forced them to take off 'Protect Girls Sports' shirts
EXCLUSIVE: California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) track and field officials have been accused of forcefully telling teen track meet athletes to remove their shirts that read "Protect Girls Sports" at a postseason event. The CIF has acknowledged to Fox News Digital that the incidents did occur. The CIF Southern Section Division 3 Prelims at Yorba Linda High School on Saturday erupted into a political rally over the issue of trans inclusion in girls' sports with multiple competitors and attendees wearing the shirts, hoisting picket signs and speaking out at a press conference. The protests came in response to a biologically male trans athlete who competed in the girls' high jump, long jump and triple jump for Jurupa Valley High School. Multiple female competitors have told Fox News Digital that officials at the meet allegedly approached them and told them to remove the shirts, and did not give the girls the liberty to go and take them off elsewhere. The girls allege the officials made them take off the shirts immediately, under the officials' supervision, and didn't give them any additional time or opportunities to do it elsewhere. "They didn't let us go and do anything unless we removed the shirt," 15-year-old Brea Olinda High School student Lilly Ingallinera, said. "They said, 'you have to remove it right now!' … He didn't leave until we took it off." Ingallinera added that she found the official's orders "weird," and preferred it if he asked her coach or a female official to relay the message instead. "I thought it was a little weird that this grown man was coming up to us and persistently saying 'I need you to take it off.' I think they should have told our coaches to come tell us instead of this official that I know is older than us and a grown adult and I feel like either a woman should have done it or he should have done it on the speaker telling everyone and not just individually telling everyone," Ingallinera said. Fellow Brea Olinda student Julia Teven, 17, alleged that the official who confronted her wouldn't "take no for an answer." "You could tell he was not going to take no for an answer," Teven said. "He was standing right there watching us like 'you better take it off'. That's basically how it kind of felt." Teven and Crean Lutheran student Reese Hogan, 16, alleged that officials made them feel that if they did not take off their shirts, then they would be disqualified from the event. "It wasn't said but it was implied that if I didn't take my shirt off then and there, then something could potentially happen to my spot, it wasn't said but it was implied," Hogan said. "Throughout the day it was kind of getting a little bit more stricter… getting a little bit more hostile with their voices… they never said anything about getting disqualified, but it was kind of implied by the tone of their voice and the way that they said things." The girls alleged the officials at the meet went up to other athletes who wore the "Protect Girls Sports" shirts and made those athletes remove them as well. Hogan added that she was forced to remove her shirt on the field during warm-ups and then again at the gate after stepping out of the venue and trying to come back in, while her hands were full of other supplies. "I was like 'Is it okay if I walk in and take it off? I don't really have hands right now' and she was like 'No, you're going to have to take it off, you can't come in here with that shirt on,'" Hogan alleged. "They kind of were just making us take the shirts off wherever we were." Teven, Hogan and fellow Crean Lutheran student Olivia Viola said the officials told them the reasoning behind asking to remove the shirts was because the shirts weren't official school uniforms. However, the girls also said that other athletes wearing gear with college names or other brands that weren't official school uniforms weren't asked to remove their shirts. "I just found it really, like, really, it felt like it was unfair, just kind of targeted at, at what we were standing for, because the shirts weren't saying anything offensive. It wasn't derogatory. All it was saying was to protect women's sports," Viola said. "And it was really clear that they only wanted our shirts off because of what we were supporting and didn't care about the actual role because of the other athletes that we're wearing." The CIF provided a statement to Fox News Digital confirming that the girls were asked to remove the shirts. "Per the CIF Southern Section Playoff Bulletin, all athletes must be dressed in proper, school issued, track uniforms. The student-athletes were asked to comply with this while in the on-field event area, as they were wearing said shirts over their school issued uniform," the statement read. The trans athlete ultimately finished in the top 10 in the girls' high jump, long jump and finished in first place in the triple jump. By virtue of placing in the top-10 in all those events, the athlete will advance in the state semifinals, while the three female athletes who finished in 11th place in those events will all miss out. The girls who competed in those events had to wait through an hours-long intermission after temperatures exceeded 100 degrees Farenheit, putting the event in a weather delay due to dangerous heat levels. All four girls claim that the police presence at the meet was heightened to levels they had never seen at a high school track meet, as the event became a hotbed for debate over the national conflict over trans athletes in girls' sports. Jurupa Valley's trans competitor has prompted controversy throughout the season, breaking long-held girls' records at various meets. In addition to the shirts and a press conference where students, parents and community leaders spoke out against the CIF and California state government for continuing to protect trans inclusion, the crowd of spectators in attendance boisterously either cheered or jeered the trans competitor throughout the day. Footage on social media shows some spectators chanting "that's a boy!" at the athlete, while Viola said other fans only cheered for the trans athlete during the event while remaining silent for the female competitors. "I know it was like, really, really split, specifically, like when he was jumping, and it was like you could visibly see it, almost like it felt like half the stadium was, like, against it. And then there was like a little chunk of people over here that would, like, cheer really loudly for everything he did," Viola said. "It just was bothersome to me. It was a little bit sad to hear people cheering louder for the biological male competing in a female sport than the females competing in the female sports. That part was just a little bit, that part was saddening to me." However, the four girls also expressed sympathy for the athlete over the insults that were hurled at it by the other spectators. "I don't, I don't condone the like, the bullying, the yelling of this person. I think it's 100% on the people in authority who are allowing it to happen," Viola said. Teven and Ingallinera say they even spoke to the athlete during breaks on Saturday, and don't believe the athlete is at fault for the situation "I genuinely believe he doesn't have a harmful intent towards girls sports. I think it's the kind of like CIF allowing him that's kind of put him in his position," Teven said. "I think genuinely, he's just, like, being enabled by the CIF, and he's just taking his opportunity presented to him." Ingallinera even said the athlete was "very nice" and believes the CIF is putting the athlete in an unfair position. "I did talk to this guy, and he was very, he was very respectful, very kind. He didn't really say anything hurtful things. I didn't say anything rude to him. And I was just like, there he was very nice," Ingallinera said. "I think that if CIF didn't allow them to compete, they would be competing with the guys division instead of the girls." The CIF is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports, and potential Title IX violations. California was one of the first states to openly defy President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order after he signed it on Feb. 5. "The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student's gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student's records," the CIF previously said in a statement to Fox News Digital. California Governor Gavin Newsom addressed the issue during an episode of his podcast in early March. "Well, I think it's an issue of fairness," Newsom said to conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. "I completely agree with you on that. It's deeply unfair. "So that's easy to call out the unfairness of that. There's also a humility and a grace… these poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression, and the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with as well. "So both things I can hold in my hand. How can we address this issue with the kind of decency that I think you know is inherent in you, but not always expressed on the issue? "The question you're asking is the question we've been asking ourselves for months and haven't been able to answer. What is that line? How can you make this fair? I haven't been able to figure it out, and I'm about as transparent about this as anybody out there, especially in my party on this. To the extent someone can and do it in a way that's respectful and responsible and could find the kind of balance, then I'm open to that discussion." Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom's office on the latest controversy but has not heard back. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
