Riley Gaines - July 2023
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 | 7:00 pm PDT
Riley Gaines
Recent policy changes are destroying women's sports.
Some insist that men can become women simply by asserting it as fact. “How does it affect you if I want to identify as a woman?” they ask as they register to compete with girls in sports that have been divided by gender for decades. Then, extending the same logic, they follow your daughter, your wife, your mother – or YOU – into women’s most intimate private spaces: bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers.
World-class swimmer Riley Gaines has had first-hand experience facing these policies and has shown tremendous courage in standing up to them. She is a twelve-time All-American swimmer who graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2022. At her final NCCA Championship meet, she tied with Lia Thomas, a transgender female who spent three years on the men’s swim team before joining the women’s team.
Riley knew this was wrong. She assumed that someone in authority would speak up and put a stop to this, but nobody did. So she decided to speak up for herself. She has become the leading advocate on behalf of girls and women for fair and safe sports. She has testified to Congress, been featured in campaign advertisements, and shared the stage with many national political figures.
She has also been attacked for speaking up. In April, Riley was invited by Turning Point USA (led by previous Liberty Forum speaker Charlie Kirk) to speak at San Francisco State University. She was heckled, physically assaulted, and briefly held captive before police dispersed the crowd and escorted her out.