WATCH: Riley Gaines and crowd laugh after anthropologist can’t admit bones show sex differences

During a recent speech at the University of Pittsburgh, Riley Gaines, a former championship swimmer and women’s sports advocate, asked an anthropologist about the biological differences in bones between men and women. She questioned whether, purely based on bones, an anthropologist would be able to tell the difference between a man and a woman who had been buried for 100 years. The anthropologist responded by denying that there was any difference and was met with laughter from the audience.

The anthropologist, who has over 150 years of anthropological data, claimed that sex differences in bones did not exist, despite the fact that forensic anthropologists often use bone differences to determine the sex of remains. Gaines, who had put a lot of research into the topic, was unimpressed by the anthropologist’s response and attempted to explain her position before being interrupted by the anthropologist’s claim to have a Ph.D.

The incident was captured on video and quickly went viral, prompting many people to question the anthropologist’s competence or honesty. Gaines, on the other hand, recently praised the World Athletics’ decision to ban biological males who identify as transgender women from competing in female sporting events and called for greater action to be taken to protect younger girls’ sports.