Riley Gaines was set to speak at Penn State University on Tuesday for what she’s dubbed “Real Women’s Day.”
Gaines has made a movement on social media to make Oct. 10 “Real Women’s Day” – the date, in Roman numerals, is X/X, which is the chromosome pairing of biological females.
However, Gaines posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that the school canceled her speech.
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The former college swimmer, though, caught the university in its tracks, posting a video of Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi explaining that as a public university, the school is “bound by the First Amendment” to bring in speakers “that many will consider controversial, either because their views are not widely held or because a speaker espouses ideas that are actively hateful.”
Bendapudi also provided a second “moral” reason.
“Higher education has fought against censorship, believing that the best way to combat bad ideas is with better ideas…” she says in the video. “Restricting the speech of one group or individual jeopardizes everyone’s rights because the same laws or regulations used to silence bigots can be used to silence you.”
Bendapudi later explained that the school “supports” those who wish to protest against those speakers.
With that video in her pocket, Gaines called out the school and Bendapudi for seemingly an about-face.
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“No way President of Penn State makes a whole video explaining why public institutions are legally obligated to let ‘bigots’ apparently like me on campus to speak then proceeds to CANCEL my speech tomorrow for real women’s day (X/X),” Gaines wrote. “Have it your way. See ya tomorrow with a soap box and megaphone, Penn State!”
Gaines has been fighting for fairness in girls and women’s sports, aiming to keep biological males out. Her fight has come with just as much criticism as it has support.
Since 2020, 23 states have passed laws restricting transgender athletes from playing in sports that do not align with their gender at birth.
It is believed the video was released in September. The president released a similar video in July in a video titled “Controversial Speakers on Campus.” It is also unknown why the school canceled Gaines’ speech.
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