# @pinknews on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DVqpKvAihX2
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/58894327-pinknews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/9c1200bef0.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-03-09T14:02:15.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** PinkNews (@pinknews) — https://gondola.cc/pinknews

## Caption

On Monday (2 March) Rep. John McGuire, who serves as the US representative for Virginia's 5th congressional district, announced the Riley Gaines Act, a bill that would allow female athletes to sue colleges, universities, and athletic associations that permit transgender women to compete in women’s sports.

Named for Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer who tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle with University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas during the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

Thomas would go on to win the 500-yard freestyle and become the first out transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship. 

Gaines’s highest individual finish at the NCAA championships was that fifth-place tie. She chose not to pursue competitive swimming after graduating in 2022, rather beginning a lucrative career as a conservative political activist known for campaigning against the participation of trans women in women's sports and against public acceptance of transgender people more widely.

McGuire’s proposed legislation would create new legal recourse, allowing female athletes to sue institutions that “negligently or recklessly” allow transgender women to compete in women’s athletics. Under the bill, athletes could seek damages for physical injury as well as for lost scholarships or professional opportunities tied to the competition.

A growing body of peer-reviewed research finds no consistent evidence that transgender women hold an athletic advantage over cisgender women, particularly after hormone therapy.

#RileyGaines #USPolitics #LGBTQIA #transgender #sports

## Stats

- **Views:** 8,510
- **Likes:** 1,041
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- **Comments:** 286

## Tags

rileygaines, transgender, sports, lgbtqia, uspolitics

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