Simone Biles deactivates X account after comments about transgender athletes

Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles appears to have deactivated her X account amid a feud with anti-trans activist Riley Gaines.

The star athlete turned off an account with 1.9 million followers amid harassment from anti-LGBTQ voices on the platform, who gloated about her virtual disappearance. The move happened after a Biles post went viral attacking Gaines for publicly shaming a trans teenager participating in a girls’ sporting events.

“You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,” Biles wrote in a June 7 post. “Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL SPORTS!! But instead … You bully them … One thing’s for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”

Her comments came after Gaines attacked a Champlin Park High School championship softball team for having a transgender girl pitching. Gaines responded by asserting Biles “could compete in pommel horse and rings in 2028” if she held that view.

Biles later apologized for the most personal aspects of her comments about Gaines, who rose to prominence after complaining about competing against trans athlete Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA Division I championship tournament. Gaines tied for 5th place with Thomas at the race.

“I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for,” Biles later posted.

“These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports. My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful.”

But that didn’t stop anti-LGBTQ+ accounts from continuing to attack Biles. The Libs of TikTok account run by anti-trans activist Chaya Raichik closely followed Biles’ social activity and noted at 10:24 p.m. that Biles “nuked her X account,” a post since viewed more than 3 million times.

Gaines also posted about Biles leaving the social media platform.

“Has an incredibly unpopular and morally indefensible take - gets rightfully ridiculed for it - issues a groveling public apology after unrelenting backlash - deletes account to pretend it never happened,” Gaines posted. “Sad to see such a phenom go down like this.”

Biles remains the most decorated gymnast of all time. She has also been an outspoken champion of athletes caring for their mental health. Her other social media accounts appear active. Her departure from X follows many others who have objected to changes since the platform was purchased by Elon Musk, who has regularly promoted anti-transgender messages and even attacked his own trans child in posts.