College athlete Riley Gaines opposes biological males in women’s sports. This issue rings close to home for her because she has competed against trans athlete Lia Thomas.
Gaines spoke at the University of Pittsburgh this week, and naturally, there were protests.
The Pitt News reports:
‘Spiritual warfare’: Riley Gaines speaks against trans women in women’s sports at on-campus eventTo Riley Gaines, the fight to exclude transgender women from women’s sports is more than a political issue — it’s “spiritual warfare.”“What we’re being asked to do is to deny objective truth. It’s to deny the sky is blue, is to say that men and women are the same,” Gaines said. “We’re equal, but we’re not the same … I feel like we’re in this battle of really spiritual warfare. It’s no longer good or bad or right or wrong. This is like moral versus evil.”Moments later, Gaines clarified that she was not calling all trans individuals “evil.”Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer, spoke in front of roughly 70 people in the O’Hara ballroom Monday night about her experiences competing and advocating against transgender women in women’s athletics. Pitt’s Turning Point USA chapter hosted the event, which was open to Pitt affiliates and community members. After her speech, Gaines took audience questions — TPUSA’s president, Liliana Orozco, specifically requested to first hear from opposing viewpoints during the Q&A portion of the event.Gaines rose to national fame last year after tying with transgender athlete Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200-meter freestyle race of the 2022 NCAA championships…Though a large protest — which took over the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard for roughly an hour and a half — and many calls to cancel Gaines’ appearance preceded the event, her speech itself went on with relatively few interruptions.
The Pitt News covered the protest:
About 200 students protested at the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard Monday afternoon, chanting “hate speech isn’t free, it costs lives” and carrying signs with phrases such as “save trans lives.”The protest, which started at 3:30 p.m., was in response to a Riley Gaines speaking event Monday evening. Pitt’s Turning Point USA chapter hosted Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer and critic of transgender women competing in women’s sports. Pitt police blocked off the intersection for about one and a half hours. This protest follows a separate demonstration on Friday outside the Cathedral of Learning in response to another Turning Point USA event featuring conservative commentator Cabot Phillips.Akira Ormes-Strong, a transgender woman living in Pittsburgh, said the University’s lack of action is “unsurprising.” She added that it’s sending a message that “hate speech is acceptable,” and is putting trans people across the city in danger.
There was also a petition to cancel the event.
Here’s a video from the protest:
Here’s a local news report:
There was one humorous moment at the event.
FOX News reports:
Audience laughs at professor telling Riley Gaines there is no difference between male, female bone structureA video went viral of a confrontation during the Leadership Institute event when Gaines asked senior lecturer at the school’s anthropology department Gabby Yearwood, “If you were to dig up two humans one hundred years from now, both man and woman, could you tell the difference, strictly off of bones?””No!” the professor replied as the room erupted in laughter.The professor then responded to the laughter with shock, wondering how he could be doubted when he was “the expert in the room.””Have any of you been to anthropological sites? Have any of you studied biological anthropology? I’m just saying, I’ve got over 150 years of data, I’m just curious as to why I’m being laughed at,” he said before later declaring, “I have a PhD!”
Here’s the video:
The laughter in that video is very satisfying.
Featured image via YouTube.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY