Female athletes shred witness' testimony suggesting women should 'lose gracefully' to trans competitors

Director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute joins 'Hannity' to react to the Roanoke College women’s swim team possibly having to accept a transgender member on the team.

Female athletes took exception to a nonprofit leader's statement made during congressional testimony about Title IX last week after many said she appeared to suggest that women and girls competing in sports should "learn to lose gracefully" to transgender athletes competing alongside them.

"Trans students participate in sports for the same reasons as [other] kids," Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the women's rights nonprofit National Women’s Law Center, said.

"Because it is fun, because it creates belonging, community, because it teaches so much about persistence, leadership and discipline, and last, they learn to lose gracefully – hopefully – and often, win with dignity," she continued.

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President of National Womens Law Center Fatima Goss Graves testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who has been outspoken about the alleged unfairness of allowing biological men to compete in women's events, fired back at the suggestion - noting that, even when she tied with transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas for fifth place during the 2022 NCAA finals, she gracefully lost to the four biological women who placed in front of her.

"Just for the record, I have lost gracefully many times in my career. Even speaking to the