Riley Gaines, athlete and all around brave woman, has made a name for herself standing up for women's rights in the face of the trans-rights movement, especially in sports. An outspoken critic of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, Gaines has made a lot of friends and garnered a lot of supporters, but she's also made a lot of enemies. Twitchy has covered her extensively as she stands up for women and what is right.
Yesterday, Gaines called out Penn State, which canceled her appearance, and she notes the blatant hypocrisy of of Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi. Watch:
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)😭😂
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 9, 2023
Have it your way. See ya tomorrow with a… pic.twitter.com/vHTPbK6hBZ
Fox News also is covering the Gaines/Penn State dust up:
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.
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.
The school says Gaines missed the deadline to reserve a room.
Wait, PSU’s president made this whole video then canceled Gaines’ speech anyway? Seems like a slam dunk lawsuit, if so.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 10, 2023
Celebrating mass murder of Jews is cherished free speech on campuses these days, but opposing biological men in women’s sports is cancelable? Fascinating! https://t.co/GSqpgusfGV
Exactly. Campuses don't believe in free speech. They believe in speech they approve of.
It’s shocking to hear the president of a major public university use language like “bound to the First Amendment…” as if it’s a BAD thing to have free speech on campus.⚠️
— Independent Women's Forum (@IWF) October 10, 2023
Shouldn’t universities like Penn State welcome a wide array of viewpoints and perspectives as an expression… https://t.co/S3xu2S6C2e
The tweet continues: 'an expression of our First Amendment rights? We can’t wait to hear what @Riley_Gaines_ has to say—and the students at PSU should push back against this toxic narrative from their university president, who clearly doesn’t know what a ‘bigot’ is.'
It's not bigoted to stand up for women's rights, women's spaces, and women's sports.
Ban women athletes from speaking, then explains to us the first amendment rights. 🙄🙄🙄 President of Penn State proudly practicing sex discrimination for all to see. https://t.co/zlX1STJzfP
— Inga Thompson Fdn OLY💚🤍💜 (@ithompsonfdn) October 9, 2023
And hypocrisy.
This laughably stupid Penn State Lady seriously sounds like she’s talking to 3yr olds in a damn day care.. https://t.co/PtxxZTG17S
— Will. Power - Dragon🔥🔥 Truth Bringer (@KIR_bigg50) October 10, 2023
The tone is so condescending. College students are supposed to be adults, right?
Truth sounds like hate to those who hate truth. https://t.co/yK6HsCnll8
— Taylor Silverman (@tmsilverman) October 9, 2023
Yes it does. And by calling it 'hate', they think they have some moral high ground to censor and ban that which they don't like.
Does Neeli Bendapudi consider it bigoted hate speech for women to want our own, fair sports?
— ♀️Jennifer Gingrich ✡️ (@fem_mb) October 10, 2023
Why has @penn_state canceled Riley's speech when Dr. Bendapudi herself states that the First Amendment protects such speech at a public university? https://t.co/2d5fcxnitx
They're hypocrites who don't believe in the First Amendment.
It's "deeply hurtful" to ask men to stop trying to erase women and women's accomplishments.
— Whatever (@MIFrenchieMom) October 9, 2023
Crazy. https://t.co/OmRDFPRuQB
Yeah, 'deeply hurtful.' We don't buy it, either.
Bendapudi is all about women’s rights as long as your opinion aligns with hers. If not, sorry about your luck. https://t.co/iZtPJLDoAG
— I’m Jeff Too (@JWAR8534) October 9, 2023
That's the entirety of the Left. They're for you, if you agree with them in lockstep. Otherwise, you're basically a fascist.
The President of Penn State says she supports free speech on campus but then calls anyone she disagrees with a hateful bigot and tells students it is their responsibility to protest those speakers. So much free speech going on at Penn State. https://t.co/FMYEg4cLrO
— Pennridge Area Republican Club (@Pennridge_GOP) October 10, 2023
We're sure Bendapudi would be unable to provide an example of Gaines' supposed 'bigotry', too.
Because they don't cancel hate speech, they cancel speech they hate. Go get 'em @Riley_Gaines_ https://t.co/OBPrprdc48
— Heather R. Higgins (@TheHRH) October 10, 2023
Exactly.
Go get em! You've got this. We are not stopping, ever. https://t.co/LS7sokdg5I pic.twitter.com/6IhtmC7mV4
— SF_TERF_CENTRAL (@SF_TERF_CENTRAL) October 9, 2023
Gaines won't be stopped, and that's a good thing. We need more women to stand up and say enough is enough.
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