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Amanda Marcotte is here to save us from yet another blonde conservative woman telling the truth. In her latest hateful hit piece, she tries to turn a real dispute over fairness into a supernatural thriller. When truth threatens her politics, Amanda does not argue with facts. She reaches for horror scripts and expects you to applaud.
Salon’s spooky storyteller writes like she found the real villain of the trans debate. Spoiler. It is Riley Gaines for speaking up. Not Lia (Will) Thomas. Not the institutions that decided women’s sports are politically inconvenient. No. The problem is the girl who said enough. Amanda does not like that one bit.
The trans panic currently gripping the Christian right is an extension of the Satanic panic that took hold in the 1980s — a worldview that owes little to reality or to the teachings of Jesus. Instead, it’s rooted in the visual and emotional language of horror films, especially the more reactionary tales of demonic possession, such as “The Exorcist” and “The Conjuring.” These followers unabashedly argue that “transgenderism” is a tool of Satan and that acceptance of gender non-conforming people is a form of demonic possession.
That, and not her fifth place trophy, is why Gaines has become the face of the anti-trans movement. Simply put, she looks the part. Every demon possession story requires a cherubic — and ideally blonde — little girl to be the face of the “innocence” threatened by Satanic forces. Think Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” Heather O’Rourke in “Poltergeist” or the family of all daughters in “The Conjuring.” Although Gaines, at 25, is a grown woman, she has a round face and a girlish demeanor, making her able to evoke the trope of the demon-terrorized child that has captured the Christian right’s imagination for decades. – Amanda Marcotte, Salon
Let me help Amanda out. Riley Gaines did not sign up for a fictional tale. She stood on the blocks, lungs burning, shoulders strong, across from a man competing in a women’s field. She trained her entire life for that moment. That is not a screenplay. It is a result. Real life beats Amanda’s creative writing any day.
Last night Will Thomas was awarded the “Voice of Inspiration” award at a Dodgers-sponsored event.
The only people he’s inspired are other opportunistic men who realized they can violate & steal from women and be celebrated for it.https://t.co/WguKtyduFy
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 17, 2025
Amanda insists Riley is not a real victim. Mandy would have you believe that a woman pointing out an unfair system is dramatic. A man exploiting it is progress. That is the script the activists wrote. Amanda is just reading her lines.
She mocks that Riley only tied for fifth. The goal is to make women doubt what they see. If the loss is small, it is dismissed. If the discomfort is real, it is mocked. It is textbook gaslighting. Do not trust your eyes. Do not trust your experience. Trust Amanda. She knows better than a female athlete who was actually there.
Even one spot taken away has a cost. A trophy. A ranking. A future opportunity. A message to girls that they should smile while losing ground. That alone is enough reason to fight back.
And this is not the first time Amanda has tried to tear down women who refuse to behave the way she prefers. When a woman draws a boundary or speaks for herself, Amanda does not protect her. She punishes her. She even wrote a commentary, brushing aside the tactics of an emotional abuser, because acknowledging a woman’s pain would ruin the narrative she wanted.
Amanda also throws in her favorite insult. Riley is a professional victim. Which is funny because entire media outlets make payroll selling outrage. But a female athlete stands up for fairness. Suddenly victimhood becomes an issue.
Perhaps Amanda is the one obsessed with demons. She keeps bringing up Satan and horror movie plots. Conservatives are talking about muscle mass and competition rules. Meanwhile Salon is screaming about Linda Blair.
The real horror for Amanda is very simple. Riley Gaines is not scared. That is what terrifies the Left. Riley refused to stay cute and quiet. Amanda wants her back in the cute and quiet box.
Amanda goes on and on about how Riley plays up girlishness to sell the story. She wears pink. She posts photos with her husband to show how small she looks beside him. So naturally, to Amanda, that makes Riley a manipulative actress. Imagine that. A woman embraces femininity. The outrage.
Maybe the Olympics’ ban on men competing in women’s sports put Dear Mandy in a rage spiral, and nothing calms her down like a fresh hit piece on a woman she cannot control.
Riley did not invent this issue. Sports science did. The podium results did. The angry parents who see daughters lose scholarships did. Riley just refused to pretend everything is fine. That is the real sin in Amanda’s world. The sin of noticing.
Riley Gaines did not ask to become a spokesperson. The people who silenced women in locker rooms created her. The officials who ignored complaints created her. The media that mocked every legitimate concern created her. Riley rose because no one else in power would say the obvious. It is unfair to make female athletes compete against biological males. That is a sentence Amanda desperately wants banned.
So no Amanda. Riley Gaines does not need horror movies to prove her point. She has lived experience. She has courage. And she has the ability to say what many women are thinking.
The real question is why the media wants women to shut up and lose with a smile.
Riley is not the scary one here.
Featured image original graphic by Darleen Click
Lloyd says: Riley Gaines is a genuine American Hero….A female who is unafraid to fight for women’s rights…..Would that all the loud mouth, do nothing “feminists” would join her in the battle.
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