Mediaboss Marketing

SAN FRANCISCO (TND) Riley Gaines, who used to swim for the University of Kentucky and who has gained attention for speaking out against the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports, says that she was attacked after she gave a speech to students at San Francisco State University on Thursday night.

Gaines spoke on "Saving Women's Sports" at a Turning Point USA and Leadership Institute even on the university's campus that night, according to Fox News. The former U.K. swimmer says on Twitter that she was "ambushed" and "physically hit twice by a man" after her speech.

Gaines's husband, Louis Barker, reportedly told Fox News that he was able to have "brief conversations" with his wife while she was barricaded in a room for almost three hours.

Gaines reportedly had to be escorted by police and barricaded in a room as protesters continued to gather on campus. A Turning Point USA spokesperson reportedly told Fox News that protesters "rushed in when the event was over" and that they were there to protest Gaines's speech alongside Turning Point USA as a whole.

Several social media users took videos of the event and shared them with their followers. Some prominent conservative voices responded to the video clips, and Gaines's statement, by condemning the protesters.

Victoria Coley, vice president for communications at Independent Womens Forum (IWF) said in a statement that her organization "strongly condemn[s] the violence perpetrated against" Gaines.

The University Police Department (UPD) at San Francisco State University has told Fox News that they are "conducting an ongoing investigation into the situation" but there "were no arrests related to the event." The UPD reportedly did acknowledge that "the disruption" happened after Turning Point USA's event was over and that it "made it necessary for UPD officers to move the event speaker from the room to a different, safe location."

The topic of transgender inclusion in women's sports has been a hot political issue for some time now. Transgender athlete Lia Thomas, who swam for the University of Pennsylvania, ignited much of the conversation after repeatedly dominating at women's meets and championships. Thomas has long since been surrounded by controversy, but Gaines has been a particularly vocal critic of the transgender athlete after the two competed.

Gaines and Thomas competed at the NCAA Championships in the 200-meter race. Both swimmers tied times down to the hundredth of a second, but Gaines claims Thomas received a trophy that day for "photo purposes" while she had to wait for hers in the mail. Gaines later claimed that Thomas was disrespecting female athletes by competing in women's divisions.

The University of Kentucky swimmer's outspokenness earned her praise from supporters and incredible ire from critics, some of whom claimed Gaines was "transphobic" and a "sore loser." Gaines has seen support from Republican lawmakers, having been featured in a campaign advertisement for her state's Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., reelection efforts. Gaines said at the time Paul was "not afraid to fight for fairness" and she was supporting his midterm 2022 bid, which he later won.

Paul, during an appearance on Fox News alongside Gaines, said that fairness in women's sports is "not really a Republican or Democrat issue" as "no one thinks this is fair." Gaines said, during the same Fox News segment, that support from people like Sen. Rand Paul "means a lot," considering those circumstances.

During the interview, Gaines went on to say that she believes President Joe Biden's administration's policies are "absolutely not pro-women" and left-wing policies are, at times, "regressive."

In the United States, some lawmakers are drafting legislation that would prohibit transgender athletes from participating in any women's sports. Some of those proposals are sitting in state legislatures, and some have been signed into law. So far, at least 16 states now have bans in effect covering at least high school interscholastic sports.

On Thursday, the same day Gaines was allegedly attacked, President Joe Biden's administration released a proposal that would forbid schools and colleges across America from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes, with some allowances in certain cases.

Continued here:
Riley Gaines says she was attacked after speaking at California ... - khqa.com