(USNewsMag.com) – After being accused of misgendering transgender athletes, former college athlete and speaker Sophia Lorey was asked to leave a library in Davis, California, on Aug. 20.
Lorey, a former soccer player at Vanguard University, had been speaking about her experience as a college athlete. During her speech, Lorey stated that young girls are not able to have the same dreams and aspirations she had when she was young “as long as men are allowed to compete in women’s sports. Activists shouted over Lorey. A librarian then asked her to leave.
According to a video of the event, Lorey continued talking, describing the topic instead as “biological men” that are competing against “biological girls. She was again asked to leave by the librarian. The librarian stated he would shut the event down if Lorey did not leave.
Lorey then asked the librarian why she was being asked to leave, to which the librarian responded that in her discussion on men in women’s sports, “you are misgendering.”
Licensed California attorney Erin Friday then spoke in defense of Lorey’s right to speak during the Yolo, California, Moms for Liberty chapter event. According to a flier promoting the event, it was intended to expose the discriminatory policies of the California Interscholastic Federation, which “put girls at risk and remove opportunities to excel in sports. Lorey is the California Family Council’s outreach coordinator.
The video of the event was shared on social media by Riley Gaines, who described the footage as ridiculous but not shocking. Gaines, a former women’s swimmer for the University of Kentucky, is an outspoken champion for keeping biological men out of women’s sports.
Another former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer, Kaitlyn Wheeler, tweeted that this was a “prime example” of the “silencing of women. Wheeler added that “we must speak the truth.” Like Gaines, Wheeler is also an advocate for keeping biological men out of women’s sports.
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