Simone Biles went toe-to-toe with political activist Riley Gaines after the former competitive swimmer allegedly made comments about transgender athletes playing sports.

OutKick podcaster Gaines, 25, reposted the Minnesota State High School League’s Friday, June 6, X upload about winning a softball tournament.

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“Comments off lol,” Gaines wrote on Friday. “To be expected when your star player is a boy.”

In response, Biles, 28, called out the “Gaines for Girls” podcast host for her allegedly transphobic comments.

Simone Biles Explains Why It Was ‘Important’ to Stand Up for Teammates After MyKayla Skinner Comments

“@Riley_Gaines_  You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight-up sore loser,” Biles wrote later that day. “You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans [people] feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!”

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She added, “But instead … You bully them … One thing’s for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”

Gaines, in response, said that she found the Olympic gymnast’s comments to be “disappointing.”

“It’s not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces,” Gaines replied. “You can uplift men stealing championships in women’s sports with YOUR platform. Men don’t belong in women’s sports, and I say that with my full chest.”

Biles fired back, further defending the transgender community.

Simone Biles’ Most Honest Quotes About Mental Health and Wellness Through the Years: ‘We’re Human’

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“Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,” Biles wrote, tagging Gaines’ account.

In subsequent tweets and comments, Biles continued to advocate for allyship while Gaines doubled down on her perspective. Neither has further addressed their differing points of view.

Biles, for her part, has long been a supporter of the LGBTIA+ community.

“The world we live in makes me sad, but I’d do x1000000 more commercials with you just to piss everyone off,” Biles wrote via X in November 2020, referring to an Uber Eats commercial she did with nonbinary Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness. “The LGBTQIA will always have my support and feel welcome on my socials.”

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Biles’ former teammates also praised her for advocating for others.

“After Tokyo, I said to [Simone], ‘There has to be so many people around the world that were suffering in silence and struggling with their mental health. You have no idea how many of those people you helped,’” retired gymnast Aly Raisman told Sports Illustrated in January. “She helps people feel less alone.”

In addition to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, Biles has also shone a spotlight on mental health awareness. In 2020, she withdrew from the Olympic Games over mental health issues about suffering “the twisties” mid-competition.

“I have to focus on my mental health. I just think mental health is more prevalent in sports right now,” she said at the time. “We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do.”

Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, hosted the Young 9 Foundation’s CareSource Football Procamp, emphasizing mental health awareness for youth. Reflecting on his own childhood experiences with legends like Kobe Bryant, he’s committed to providing kids with memorable opportunities. This second annual camp featured Panther coaches and teammates, fostering a supportive environment for campers while instilling the significance of mental health. Young, raised in a household that valued emotional well-being, seeks to eliminate stigma for others and equip them with essential tools.

By the Numbers

• This is the second year for the Young 9 Foundation camp in Charlotte.
• Young hosted over 100 children at the Procamp.

State of Play

• The camp occurred between OTAs and the Panthers‘ minicamp, creating a unique atmosphere amidst the NFL schedule.
• Younger players, including teammates and coaches, participated to share insights and support the initiative.

What’s Next

As Young embarks on his third season with the Panthers, he aims to continue expanding the Young 9 Foundation’s reach and influence, with future camps and initiatives focused on youth mental health awareness.

Bottom Line

The Young 9 Foundation’s camp exemplifies Bryce Young’s dedication to mentoring youth and prioritizing mental health, highlighting the importance of giving back and fostering emotional resilience in the next generation.

Simone Biles has 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship wins. She is considered one of the best gymnasts of all time. Still, even she has to deal with negativity online.

“That was hard for me to wrap my head around,” Biles, 28, told the audience during her first visit to Hong Kong last week.

Reading such harsh words can be difficult, so she has learned to protect herself.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As June marks Men’s Mental Health Month, a Jacksonville mental health counselor talked about ways to break the stigma around the topic.

WATCH: Local group works to help men tackle mental, physical health

Mental health can be a tough topic for anyone, but for men, talking about it can feel even harder.

“I would say Men’s Mental Health Month is an opportunity to highlight the fact that men also have mental health,” Melissa Brown said. “Men also have emotions, feelings, thoughts, they also endure mental health struggles.”

Over 6 million men suffer from depression per year, but male depression often goes underdiagnosed, according to data from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Brown said outdated ideas about masculinity can make it harder for men to ask for help.

“In men, depression can sometimes present in anger and irritability, and people see that in men and they think, ‘oh you know, he’s just being a man,’” Brown said. “When really there’s a possibility that he could be suffering from feelings of deep sadness or depression.”

Experts said toxic masculinity — the idea that men should always be tough, unemotional, and self-reliant — often prevents them from acknowledging what they’re going through.

“I actually meet with a lot of men in my practice, and I encourage them to take it slow and maybe practice with expressing more of the positive emotions,” Brown said. “Practicing expressing those emotions a bit more could be less challenging and then working your way up to more of the difficult emotions.”

Whether it’s a friend, a loved one, a doctor, or a counselor, reaching out can make all the difference.

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Bryce Young has been on a bumpy ride with the Carolina Panthers since being drafted, and it even took a toll on him last season. Unlike many others, the former number one overall pick has decided to speak openly about his mental health struggles. Prompting a conversation that not many fans, players, or coaches want to have around the league.

There’s always been a stigma about mental health struggles as an athlete. When Dak Prescott opened up about it in 2020, the response was somewhat deflected by the public. Negative attitudes and biases have seemingly discouraged some athletes of older generations from speaking out. Whether it be something external, like a family issue, or something internal, like their level of play.

It’s no secret that ever since being selected number one overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, Bryce Young has struggled to find his footing. In 28 career starts, he’s won just 6 games. And all of the losses have weighed heavily on him mentally. Young opened up about it while discussing the stigma surrounding the topic.

“There’s definitely been a big stigma around [discussing mental health in] athletics for a long time. For me, I like to deal and live in the truth. I’m super grateful to have my profession. I’m super passionate about it, but we’re all human,” he told GQ Sports.

“People, a lot of times, think that we don’t have the same struggles, we don’t deal with the same things. Our lives, at times, maybe can look different from others, but it’s all a set of circumstances. The makeup of who we are, what we go through from an emotional level, it’s all the same,” he added.

Young explained how he comes from a family that works as therapists and counselors. His father, Craig, is a mental health therapist and played an instrumental role in his upbringing. His mother, Julie, is a former special education teacher who offers Bryce her unwavering support. 

Young’s father once explained how important mental health was in their family. “It’s just something that we’ve always paid a lot of attention to,” Craig told CBS Sports. “And we always wanted to provide an environment for Bryce where he felt safe and he felt loved and he felt encouraged irrespective of his outcomes.” 

He added: “We provided a safe place for him to express his feelings or sometimes not to express his feelings… that whatever he’s feeling was okay and that we were there to help him problem solve and that through that problem-solving journey he was always loved and we were there for him.”

The style of upbringing seems to be paying off. Young is now on a mission to make mental health a more suitable topic to talk about in NFL culture. Even though most fans don’t want to mention it, the Carolina QB wants to let every kid know that it’s okay to ask for help.

Look, the studies and statistics don’t lie. Between 5% – 35% of elite athletes have some form of mental health disorder. And that’s just the elite ones. Almost everyone goes through the mental obstacle of coming to terms with the idea that they aren’t as good as the elite athletes. Which is an unquantifiable number. 

Young’s generation is simply not as afraid to let people know when they aren’t doing okay mentally. And while the stigma has always dissuaded such athletes from speaking out about it, it’s great that Bryce is trying to change that notion. Behind the education from his parents, his status, and his great smile, he could indeed make a difference.