CONTENT WARNING: This article references triggering topics such as transphobia. Please proceed with caution.
Championship swimmer and activist Riley Gaines spoke at SRU on Oct. 30 in the Russell Wright Alumni House. She was invited by Turning Point USA at SRU (TPUSA at SRU), who organized the event.
Gaines is viewed as controversial by some, including several members of the SRU community. This is due to her stance on transgender issues, and an incident involving a transgender swimmer named Lia Thomas with whom she tied for 5th place during a college swim meet.
Gaines is now the director for the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute. Her intention with this platform is to empower women and share the story of her competition against Thomas.
Her talk at SRU revolved around creating single-sex spaces for women, the importance of voting and more. It was followed by a Q&A session with audience participation.
Allison Mahonski, TPUSA at SRU president, introduced the swimmer as “an advocate for equality and women’s safety, their privacy,” and “a powerhouse in today’s society.”
Patrons were waiting outside over an hour before doors opened. This included students, faculty, community members, families with children, local reporters and more.
Students in line shared varying reasons for attending the event.
“I support Riley Gaines heavily, and I stand for everything that she stands for, and I think it’s a super good opportunity for us to come and see her as students who have the opportunity to compete in athletic events here,” a student named Kendra said.
Another student said she was mostly there out of curiosity.
“I knew who she was from the whole pool incident, and so I wanted to hear what she had to say about that and about whatever else she has to talk about,” the student said. “I’m excited to hear her speak. She seems really nice, and I’ve heard that she speaks really elegantly and really thorough.”
One student, PJ Stedina, attended the event with other members of SRU College Progressives in opposition to Gaines’s message.
“I am here to try and understand the message that Turning Point is putting out to our whole campus, how they’re wanting to represent themselves as a student group,” Stedina said. “I have some more negative feelings towards Riley Gaines and her message. I think it’s pretty harmful to try and characterize certain traits of women’s bodies as more masculine, and that you have to look and be a certain way to be able to compete in sports.”
Stedina said they disagreed with Gaines’s political views at large. As Gaines’s talk progressed, Stedina slowly put on clown makeup to demonstrate their thoughts.
“Her outlook on the fact that only women with two X chromosomes can be allowed in women’s spaces is such a silly message to put out, especially because there are so many women without two X chromosomes,” Stedina said.
A Silent Witness protest was initially planned for the event but was canceled due to uncertainty regarding the number of participants.
One transgender student said they drove up to the Alumni House prepared to protest, but saw only the people in line. They did not feel comfortable leaving the car and ultimately went home.
“It felt very dehumanizing. I got dressed up and got my makeup done to protest for the safety of trans rights,” they said. “Just knowing that people don’t want me to exist, especially in the community I live in, is a horrible feeling.”
When speaking, Gaines told the crowd she felt welcome at SRU, but she is never sure what to expect in Pennsylvania. “Certainly feel more welcome and supported here at this university than I did at Penn State University,” she said.
Gaines then described how Penn State canceled her talk last minute, so she spread her message with a megaphone in a free speech zone.
“There was a couple students actually arrested for, I mean, trying to kill me. I think flipping tables, just being incredibly disruptive and disrespectful,” she said. “Certainly feel more welcome here on this campus than I did in San Francisco not too long ago.”
She then proceeded to describe a situation at San Francisco State University where she claimed she was ambushed and held for ransom.
These incidents, among others, sparked community conversation about safety prior to the event. David Wilmes, vice president of student affairs, discussed measures SRU was taking to ensure campus safety.
“I have received some concerns about safety, but nothing around criticizing the actual event,” he said. “We have police officers on site here at the event, like we have for any large event, especially events that bring in people who aren’t students or outside people.” Wilmes said.
He claimed having tickets helped with safety as well as setting up a designated area for protests.
“That is to ensure that folks are safe and not necessarily conflicting directly with one another, but they still have that ability to express their beliefs,” Wilmes said. He also commented on TPUSA at SRU’s right to allow Gaines to speak on campus.
“We would allow any student organization to have any speaker that they want to bring in for their purposes and for their event,” he said. “That’s part of having a college campus that has free speech and the exchange of ideas…even though we know some people may disagree, some people might not want this kind of event here, it’s their right as a recognized student organization to bring someone in.”
Interim Chief Diversity Officer Keshia Booker spoke on this as well.
“Student organizations represent a wide array of perspectives and passions. It may be difficult for some members of our community to reconcile differing points of view,” Booker said. “The university held ‘Unapologetically Me: Wellness and Resilience in the Drag World’ as part of its commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
“All members of the university are asked to approach differing perspectives with civility and respect. Critical thinking is a cornerstone of academic and emotional intelligence and is a component of personal and professional growth,” she said.
Vincent Tavolario, the PR chair for TPUSA at SRU, said the point of the event was to create conversation and provide differing perspectives.
“I know a few people have expressed their displeasure at Gaines coming to campus. But also, I welcome it,” Tavolario said. “I really want those people who don’t agree with what we’re doing here at all, I would love to see them in here…you don’t get anywhere, if it’s on the left or on the right, just by sitting in your echo chambers all day.”
When people expressed distaste to Tavolario before the event occurred, he encouraged them to participate in the Q&A and ask critical questions.
During the Q&A, over 10 questions were asked. They related to the topics Gaines had brought up throughout the talk, mostly concerning transgender participation in sports.
One student said she was Roman Catholic and disagreed with transgender ideology, but questioned why Gaines would not use she/her pronouns if it made someone happy.
“It depends on who is defining respect…I believe that’s only furthering a lie, and it’s not respectful to lie to anyone,” Gaines said. She then referenced the competition from which she gained notoriety.
“I began to describe [changing in the locker room with Thomas], and the phrase of ‘her penis’ came out of my mouth,” she said. “I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach, like I couldn’t even believe I said that. And it finally hit me…Like, her penis. That is the most absurd thing that’s ever come up out of my mouth.”
The Rocket privately spoke with Gaines before the event, where she provided background information. She said the campus was “beautiful.”
“I have never been to Slippery Rock before. I’ve been to Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh many times, but I have never been to Slippery Rock,” she said. “It’s very different than a lot of the campuses that I find myself on. Seems like there’s a lot of history here.”
When asked what she wished people better understood about her message, Gaines said, “I wish people could get past the headline and were willing to hear out my argument, understand it doesn’t come from a place of hatred…It’s really about fairness, safety, protecting equal opportunity, privacy in areas of undressing, and maintaining [women’s] rights.”
Online personality Matt Bernstein noted on his podcast A Bit Fruity that the swimmer was initially more willing to use she/her pronouns, and even wished Thomas luck with her transition.
Bernstein claimed Gaines’ views became more conservative the more she appeared on Fox News, which occurred over 70 times in two years.
He speculates there may be larger entities paying her to spread her message. SRU College Progressives agreed with this, writing on Instagram: “She only turned anti-trans once conservatives started paying attention—and probably paying her too…as soon as she started demonizing trans athletes, her bookings on Fox increased exponentially.”
Bernstein cited Gaines’ appearance in conservative political commercials as evidence for this claim. He also discussed a Boston Globe article that reported Gaines received $12,000 from the Ron DeSantis campaign.
The Rocket asked Gaines her response to online rumors that she is being paid to hold more conservative beliefs.
“To be very clear, no one’s paying me to be here on this campus, right? The university is not paying me. The student group is not paying me. I’m not getting paid to be here,” she said. “I have evolved in a sense of understanding respect, understanding compassion, and it’s in its true sense. I think back to two years ago and how fearful I was to take a stand…I think my messaging has evolved, but in terms of how I feel, that hasn’t changed. I think I’ve just become more comfortable and confident in being able to express it.”
