TWIBS: Gaines Sponsors Losers
Riley Gaines is at it again! This time she appears to be paying collegiate sports teams to forfeit games against a school that may or may not have a trans volleyball player.
Humor by Alyssa Steinsiek
This Week in Barrel Scraping (TWIBS) is Assigned Media’s oldest column! Every Friday, Alyssa Steinsiek digs deep from the well of transphobia and finds the most obnoxious, goofy thing transphobes have said or obsessed over during the week and tears it to shreds.
You know what? It’s been long enough. I’ve been good, I’ve bided my time, I’ve kept my head down… and now it’s time to talk shit about Riley Gaines again.
What has Riley done now, you ask? I mean, that’s one hell of a laundry list, but we should definitely hone in on her most recent vile behavior: Internet stalking a collegiate athlete who may or may not be transgender, going so far as to file suit against the NCAA alongside one of the girl’s teammates to try and force the college sports association to pass a blanket ban on the participation of transgender athletes.
To be clear, Gaines’ lawsuit predates this most recent witch hunt, but she’s working hard to milk the controversy for all its worth; one of the allegedly trans volleyball player’s teammates on San Jose State University’s volleyball team has joined the lawsuit, and Gaines herself has been brown nosing anybody and everybody who refuses to compete against the San Jose. No, seriously, she had medals made and delivered them to Utah State’s volleyball team for forfeiting against San Jose.
Genuinely, girl, what the fuck is wrong with you?
The San Jose player who’s yucking it up with Gaines transferred during the fall semester of last year, and apparently had no idea her teammate was trans until very recently… even though they can always tell. Or whatever. She’s made up a bunch of crap about how high the supposedly trans player jumps and how hard she spikes the ball to retroactively justify her disgust response, but I just don’t see it. OutKick wants to highlight that this player is 6’1”, but if you check San Jose’s roster there are seven players who are six feet even or taller, four who are 5’11” (including Riley’s new best friend), and one girl who’s six foot three!
Yeah, folks, they’re tall! That might be why they play volleyball! I mean, the girl who’s publicly bashing her teammate has got four inches on me. Why are we allowing these people to pretend physical characteristics like this meaningfully define gender? This is a girl who had no idea her roommate was allegedly trans for over a year. What the hell does she know?!
As if that wasn’t enough, as Media Matters’ Alyssa Tirrell pointed out in her reporting, Gaines and Seth Dillon (owner & CEO of The Babylon Bee, a right-wing satirical news website that is absolutely insufferable because conservatives don’t possess enough soul to be funny) are paying athletes to forfeit matches against trans players, as well as sending letters to various colleges urging them to forfeit against San Jose.
I’m sure that doesn’t violate any ethical standards of competition! What happened to fairness in women’s sports? This doesn’t seem very fair to me, Riley!
Note that San Jose has had to increase security at their matches thanks to the harassment campaign Gaines and OutKick have stirred up, resulting in a death threat made against one of San Jose’s players. Gaines, of course, is playing stupid about the fact that targeted harassment, like the kind she engages in, is what emboldens bigots to issue threats like this. Or maybe she’s not playing stupid. Maybe that’s giving her a bit too much credit.
Anyway, if you’re wondering why I haven’t named the San Jose volleyball team member who is allegedly trans, it’s because she hasn’t confirmed that she’s trans and nobody has ever provided any actual proof that she is. This witch hunt was started by the awful weasels over at Reduxx Media, and they provide absolutely no concrete evidence about this girl’s identity. I am inclined to believe they made it all up, because I hate them.
I’m not going to fan these flames by naming this girl and her teammates in my reporting. I’m just here to talk about what an annoying ass Riley Gaines is, and I think I can safely say, mission accomplished. I’ll see you guys again in a month or two when my bubbling revulsion at Gaines boils over again and I must point out the latest awful thing she’s done.
Alyssa Steinsiek is a professional writer who spends too much time playing video games!
