Riley Gaines came for a trans activist for using a public restroom. It didn’t end well for her.

Anti-trans activist Riley Gaines hurled insults at trans journalist Erin Reed on Thursday after Reed posted on X about challenging Utah’s draconian bathroom law.

The law makes it a criminal offense for people to use a bathroom in a public building that doesn’t correspond with the gender on their birth certificate. Reed, who tracks anti-trans legislation nationwide, previously wrote about how the law raises the prospect of people forced to “potentially undergo a genital examination if under criminal investigation for being in the bathroom.”

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Under the law, people accused of having used the “wrong” bathroom in public spaces, from colleges to Salt Lake City’s airport, could be sent to jail for up to six months. 

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This didn’t stop Reed from marching right into a public bathroom on a trip to Utah.

“First thing I did was use the bathroom after landing in Salt Lake City, Utah,” Reed wrote on Wednesday. “Anti-trans laws are not going to enforce themselves, and unjust laws do not deserve compliance.”

The following day, Gaines replied to Reed’s post with a slew of insults that also involved misgendering her.

“Thanks for proving you’re still the same dominant, assertive, forceful man you always have been and always will be lol,” Gaines wrote.

Thanks for proving you're still the same dominant, assertive, forceful man you always have been and always will be lol https://t.co/yoiEy2qlTp

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 14, 2024

Gaines has built an entire career as an anti-trans pundit around the fact that she once tied for fifth place in an NCAA swimming match with a trans woman. She has since devoted her life to crusading against the rights of trans athletes.

Reed, however, did not take the insults lying down.

“Want to guess how many people cared, Riley?” Reed replied. “It’s been months in Florida and they can’t find anyone who cares enough to report a trans person using the bathroom. You need the laws because the people literally reject your ideology.”

Reed was referring to a similar law in Florida that took effect last July and forces trans people to use facilities associated with their sex assigned at birth.

Several of Reed’s followers replied in agreement that they have been able to easily use the bathrooms in which they feel most comfortable, furthering her argument that every day people are far less concerned with where trans people pee than politicians make it seem.

Can confirm. Just visited Florida (had to) and used public bathrooms multiple times with zero issues.

People like Gaines are incapable of imagining a trans person just existing.

— Erin Paige (@theErinPaige) March 14, 2024

Same for me when I use the bathroom. Sometimes, we touch up our makeup in the mirror together. 🤷🏿‍♀️

Most people couldn’t care less about MAGA’s divisive narrative, because we are being humans and using the bathroom.

— RazzLi (@razzli_) March 14, 2024

Been in Florida the entire time the laws been active and tho I deff get paranoid, no ones said a damn word to me

Im deff in a blue bubble here in Orlando, but good to know it hasn't happened anywhere else in the state either.

— Shann 💐🍀 (@wooflecone) March 14, 2024

As someone who lives in central Florida right now — literally no one cares about where people pee outside Tallahassee and the residents of the Villages (when they’re not too busy swinging). We just want people to flush and wash their hands when they’re done

— Patricia Eimer🦖 (@patriciaeimer) March 14, 2024

Others simply mocked Gaines for her ideology, hypocrisy, and for her overblown response to tying for fifth place with a trans woman.

so was riley's problem that she lacked the forceful assertiveness to get good at swimming

— MikeSevigny (@mikesevigny) March 14, 2024

Says the person who cyberbullies trans kids.

— AmericanVeteranTransGirl (@ReDxSiLLy) March 14, 2024

I see her misogyny. As if women can't be dominant, assertive, or forceful.

— Gordon Vincent ♥️💜💙 #Ratified🐀 (He/Him) (@khereva) March 14, 2024

And when Riley tied for fourth place with a Trans woman, they were both beat by three Cis Women. And somehow she decided to hate dedicate herself to hurting Trans people rather than accept she wasn’t the best swimmer.

— Conejo Valley Antifascists (@CAntifascists) March 14, 2024

Riley, are you really so sad and unfulfilled in life that all you do is go around trying to tear other women down?

Not successfully, mind you. Trying and utterly failing to tear other women down.

I almost feel pity for you, almost.

— Jessica Hunt (@jessica70523) March 14, 2024

Riley, you really are my favorite loser of all time. You know that right?
Just an FYI, and I say this as a Hoosier that works in Kentucky.
I exclusively use women's/female gendered spaces and have for nearly a decade. I will continue to do so for as long as I draw breath.

— Valerie Breen 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@makewoman1) March 14, 2024