Riley Gaines slams men trying to 'silence' ex-college athlete at California library event
Sophia Lorey was supposed to talk about her experience as a college athlete when she was shouted down
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines was among those who slammed a California library after a former college soccer player was shouted down during an event while speaking about transgender participation in women’s sports.
Sophia Lorey wrote on X, the company formerly known as Twitter, that she was invited to the Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch Library in Davis, California, to speak about being a college athlete.
Lorey, also the outreach coordinator for California Family Council, wrote on X she was "shocked" at what took place.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A video shared on social media showed Lorey getting interrupted multiple times as she talked about "biological girls" and "biological men."
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Riley Gaines spoke out about an incident at the Mary L. Stephens Library in Davis, Calif. (Getty Images)
"I stated, ‘Current 10 year old girls cannot live out the same dream [I had] as long as men are allowed to compete in womens sports. So now no matter how hard girls work…’ And then I was cut off and told by the librarian I would be removed, so then I continued talking saying ‘biological girls’ and ‘biological men’ to finish sharing my story," Lorey wrote. "The librarian then told me to leave and if I won’t leave he will shut the entire meeting down.
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"The librarian then again told me to leave so I directly said why am I being asked to leave and he told me ‘Because you are misgendering, you were talking about men in women sports.’"
The video showed several men and women interrupting Lorey.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gaines, who is the host of OutKick’s "Gaines for Girls Podcast" and a champion for fairness in women’s sports, issued a statement on the incident.
Riley Gaines speaks before Florida Gov. and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis at the Greenville Convention Center June 2, 2023. (McKenzie Lange/ Staff/USA Today Network)
"This young girl joins the long list of female athletes silenced for opposing unfair competition and giving up consent in areas of undressing where males are present," Gaines said. "Notice these were men trying to silence her and not women. Unfortunately, this isn't surprising anymore. The silent majority is needed more than ever to restore sanity."
Gaines, the director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, added more on X.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is ridiculous, but not shocking....a female athlete silenced for calling a spade a spade. They won't even engage in a civil conversation. Props to this gal for sticking her ground," she wrote.
Lorey added that it was her dream to be a soccer player and, she achieved it at Vanguard University.
"My first ever soccer team, to my last year of college soccer," Lorey wrote on X. "I got to accomplish my dream of being a collegiate athlete, I will continue to speak out for all the other girls to have the ability to accomplish the same dream, we must protect women’s sports. Men/boys should never be able to take this away from women/girls."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Riley Gaines at a hearing on Capitol Hill. (Fox News/YouTube Screenshot)
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The library didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.