Riley Gaines, women leaders to testify before House panel on protecting girls' sports from Biden policies

NCAA swimming champion Riley Gaines and other women leaders will appear before a House Oversight subcommittee next week on the Biden administration's proposed Title IX changes.

Nov 28, 2023 - 16:20
Riley Gaines, women leaders to testify before House panel on protecting girls' sports from Biden policies

FIRST ON FOX: A House Oversight subcommittee will be hosting NCAA swimming champion Riley Gaines and other women leaders in a hearing next week, Fox News Digital has learned.

House Oversight Subcommittee on Health chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., announced on Tuesday that Gaines, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Sarah Parshall Perry, and former Oberlin College head women's lacrosse coach Kim Russell will be attending next week's hearing titled "The Importance of Protecting Female Athletics and Title IX."

The hearing — set for Tuesday, December 5 at 2 p.m. — will delve into the Biden administration's proposed rules changes to Title IX to expand the definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity.

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The proposed Title IX rules change would mean a school or college could not ban transgender athletes from competing.

McClain told Fox News Digital that "Congress must do everything it can to protect women’s sports."

"The Biden Administration is putting women’s safety, privacy, and opportunities at risk by dismantling Title IX," McClain said.

"We look forward to hearing from Riley Gaines and other witnesses firsthand about how these rules changes harm fairness and protection for women in women’s sports across the country," the congresswoman continued.

Gaines has been a vocal supporter of women's sports and has pushed back against male-to-female transgender athletes from competing against women.

The two-time Olympic trial qualifier torched the Biden administration's Title IX rule change proposal in June, calling the "rewrite" of the policy protecting women "an abomination."

"The rewrite of Title IX is an abomination. It’s equating sex to gender identity, which means men would live in dorm rooms with women," Gaines said during the June 21 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

"Men would have full access to bathrooms, changing areas, locker rooms," she continued. "Men could join sororities, which we’re seeing happening. It’s happening at the University of Wyoming. Men can take academic and athletic scholarships away from women."

"In this new rewrite, it’s actually sexual harassment if you misgender a trans-identified individual. It’s sexual harassment that if you’re in a dorm room and you’re a woman and you feel uncomfortable sharing this room and you complain and asked to be moved — you’re guilty of sexual harassment."

The House hearing comes just weeks after two longtime Kappa Kappa Gamma alumni were removed from the organization for advocating the sorority admit only biological women only.

After being affiliated with Kappa Kappa Gamma for over 50 years at the University of Wyoming, Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith found out they were expelled from the sorority after fundraising and supporting a lawsuit that aimed to remove transgender member Artemis Langford.

Levang, a past Kappa Kappa Gamma National Foundation president, said she was saddened by the decision to be removed from the organization.

"My heart was saddened when the current six council members voted me out. However, I will not be quiet about the truth," she said in a press release released by the Independent Women's Forum. 

Tuck-Smith said she was also disappointed and added that she will educate people on the "dangers" of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Fox News Digital's Joshua Q. Nelson contributed reporting.