Simone Biles attacks Riley Gaines

Yep.

He wouldn't be the first predator to come out as trans to try and weasel some sympathy and leniency in court proceedings or their sentence. The fact it's happened before is why it's such a bang on point. They can outrage as much as they like, they know she's right!

It is, which is why it was met with outrage that she dared to raise it.

That's a goddamn good point about Nassar and if he was to come out as trans.

She always comes across as intelligent,considered, reasonable and nothing but clear about protecting the dignity and sex based rights of women and girls.

She's absolutely spot on about all of that.

And I don't care that she supports Trump or that she shares a platform with some pretty nasty people, because I am only commenting on what she is saying in this video.

Riley Gaines responds:

https://x.com/Outkick/status/1931526182962377157

Biles could have won by not body shaming RG. and discussing the points that she was making about third spaces for trans people.

But then the trans lobby would still have hated her and they seem to be the ones that she wants to make nice too.

I really don't see what your issue was initially, based on what you are saying now.

You accept there is a range of views that are pro-woman, you understand how someone can reasonably disagree about what people might consider feminist talking points.

So what is the issue if she takes a differernt view on abortion, or has a differernt perspective on same sex marriage, or whatever it is she thinks? She seems like a person who thinks about her views and cares about what happens to women.

Exactly. Trans activists are never happy w any source, not the BBC, nor the Guardian, not the NYT. I expect though for many this is due to depression or other conditions where you can only see negativity, as opposed to the ruthless activists exploiting these vulnerable, and often young, people.

I’m not surprised when a GC woman is right of centre, it’s just not something that stops me supporting her female sex based rights activism. Not every woman has to be a feminist in order for their voice to be heard. Right wing women have rights too, and this thread is about Simone Biles making a weird and ill informed personal comment to Riley Gaines, not about Riley Gaines’ view on Trump or abortion, none of which justify the odd comment.

I have explained that I was referring to Wikipedia source links, and reputable ones at that. On reflection I do agree that what constitutes a reputable newspaper is sadly debatable these days. However, as I added, if someone writes an article themselves or gives a video interview, that's a surefire way of knowing what they believe.

She did at least mention third spaces, bit it was a pathetic fig leaf. I wish and hope she will change. It's like TRA credo poisons everyone it touches, even previously nice seeming people, tho ofc no one really knows public figures. But it can seem to happen in friend or family groups, nice person indoctrinated & becomes blind.

I apologise for offending people w the use of naive. But I still hold the view that it is naive to be surprised, as many seemed to be, at the suggestion that Gaines could be anti-choice and anti-lgb. These are both common conservative Christian positions, it would be MORE surprising if she didn't hold any such views to some degree, and it can easily be looked up as she has the podcast.

Obligatory addendum : we don't know her view on the latter issue, I made a mistake which I have apologised for.

Easy for Biles to say this in the twilight of her very successful career, no male female wannabe is likely to become a gymnast competing as a woman and certainly none hampered her career path or forced her to share a changing room with male bodies. But how really sad to see a woman who made a success of a difficult sport - then made brave admissions about the pressures of top level sport, and then made a come back into the arena and triumphed - pull up the proverbial ladder for other women before they can get a handhold. She should take a leaf out of Sharron Davis’ , Martina’s and Billie Jean’s book, and use her influence to support and encourage other women, and fight for their rights to have a level playing field in all sports. There are so many avenues of action for female athletes she could choose, including mental health and outing abusive coaches, but instead she chooses to support male cheats.

Pandering to transwomen athletes who want to steal titles, medals, scholarships and earnings from female athletes is not a good move Simone, and will tarnish your reputation for many. It really isn’t the final memory you want as your legacy.

I agree @TooSquaretobehip- I hope she doesn’t feel the need to make a grovelling apology to the TRAs for offending them, but I think it’s a distinct possibility. It was a stupid, childish, ill-informed comment which she thought would please the trans community and their allies, but we know there is literally nothing that will ever satisfy these people.

I think these sports stars should stay right out of all political activism, advocating for womens rights of course excepted. Simone can't win. She is hated by GC feminists for attacking Riley, someone who advocates fiercely for women having fair sport and single sex spaces, and she is now hated by trans activists who think she's horrible for advocating trans only sports. She can't win ever with trans activists, and she was stupid for wading in. She now has both sides off-side. She learned the hard way.

Anyone who thinks Wikipedia is a useful source for political information is the naive one here.

You called everyone naive, as if we can’t judge for ourselves who we should support, and then suggested we get our information from Wikipedia, of all places.

I don’t agree with her views on abortion, but it doesn’t stop me supporting her female sports activism. And that’s as far as it goes. I’m completely immune to scolding and guilt tripping and purity spiralling.

I've repeatedly said that I was mistaken about her views on lgb rights, they are unclear, and I apologised. Her views on abortion are clear, as she has repeatedly stated them.

You can do what you like, and I can call a purity spiral one when I see it. It’s not the first one on this board and it won’t be the last. All the frothing about Riley Gaines’ other political views on this thread is whataboutery. And as pp said a lot of it is based on guilt by association, and on hearsay.

I do agree to some extent and I like to read a big range of stuff myself. But I think everyone agrees that there have to be some distinctions. For example, someone who campaigns to ban porn, and someone who supports sex work is work. They may both claim to be feminists and centering women's rights. But their positions have fundamental incompatibilities.

I see what you and SilverBells are saying about feminism having many different viewpoints. But ultimately there have to be distinctions between feminist and not, bc some are incompatible w each other. The question is ofc what each feminist judges the line to be. It will be different for nearly everyone, I suspect.

So it's alright to criticise a GC figure, but you can't criticise a poster's description of them? Or you can criticise descriptions, but only by referring to the figure's stance on GC, not on any other issue?

I suppose the fundamental difference here is that I see GC issues as of equal importance w others. Whereas it seems that most of this board prioritise GC above all other issues, and don't want to question whether aspects of the GC movement may damage other issues. I can understand and respect that stance, though I don't fully agree. It is a v hard situation by any measure for women at the moment. At least we can all agree that the tide is almost certainly turning against the TRAs and it seems highly unlikely they will ever reach this horrible level of power again.

I am pro choice myself up to 1st trimester and feel strongly about that. However, I am v uncomfortable w abortion, while I prioritise the woman's bodily autonomy, I wish it could be as minimised as possible. I have wrestled w this in the past and I can absolutely see why pro lifers think as they do, especially w the grotesque extremities the Dems have taken abortion to in the US

So while I strongly oppose efforts to ban abortion in the 1st trimester, I certainly don't see Gaines or other pro lifers as evil. That would leave a lot of the suffragettes, Wangari Maathai, Fannie Lou Hamer & many others as evil! I do see pro lifers as threatening women's rights, but the only ones I would call evil are extremists who throw bombs.

As I have said countless times now, I do NOT tribalistically oppose Gaines' assistance or GC feminists collaborating w her. I think her work on this has been v courageous & influential, & she is definitely a valuable ally for GCs