Riley Gaines, a former Division I swimmer and vocal advocate for sex-based protections in athletics, has elevated her criticism of the National Collegiate Athletic Association into a formal lawsuit, arguing that past NCAA transgender-participation policies harmed female athletes’ fairness, privacy, and opportunity.
Gaines, one of more than a dozen women who filed the case in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Georgia, spoke exclusively with Joe Pags Show about why she chose to sue and how the legal fight has evolved.
“The world is much safer, more just, more fair, more righteous for girls like Margot now than it was two years ago… and that’s pretty strictly because of who we have back in the Oval Office,” Gaines said of the broader shifts she sees in policy and public discourse, referencing her three-month-old daughter and the renewed focus on women’s sports protections.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2024, targets NCAA policies that previously allowed transgender women to compete in women’s collegiate events—a practice Gaines and her co-plaintiffs say compromised competitive equity and undermined the purpose of sex-specific categories in women’s sports.
Gaines framed her fight as both personal and principled. She described reaching an “inflection point” after competing in the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, where she shared the pool and facilities with a transgender athlete. “By me staying silent, I was just as guilty as the people who created the policies… By me going along with it, I was no different than those people,” she told Pags.
In federal court, a judge dismissed many of the plaintiffs’ legal claims but allowed a key Title IX claim to continue, focusing on whether the NCAA can be subject to federal civil-rights law if it receives federal support or funding.
Gaines did not hold back in her appraisal of NCAA leadership, calling them “spineless, morally bankrupt cowards,” and saying she warned them directly before filing suit: “I’m going to sue you.”
The case is unfolding at a time when courts nationwide are increasingly considering how federal civil-rights law interacts with sex-based athletic categories. Although Gaines v. NCAA has not reached the Supreme Court of the United States, related legal challenges involving state bans on transgender participation are being reviewed at the highest level, signaling that the national legal landscape on women’s sports remains in flux.
The full interview with Joe Pags goes deeper into Gaines’ decision to take legal action, the conversations she had with NCAA officials, and how she believes courts—not athletic bodies—will ultimately shape the future of women’s athletics.
Watch the full exclusive to hear Riley Gaines break down what led her to sue and why she believes this fight is defining a new era for female athletes.