Conservative activist Riley Gaines speaks on transgender issues; protesters gather outside Dale Hall

Correction: This article was updated at 8:16 a.m. on April 3 to reflect the proper spelling of Jackson Farria's name. 

Conservative political activist Riley Gaines spoke about transgender women in sports at a debate and Q&A hosted by OU’s chapter of Turning Point USA on Wednesday evening.

OU Turning Point USA faculty adviser Gary Barksdale began the event with a reminder about OU’s policies and a warning to audience members who may cause disruption. Throughout Gaines’ speech, no disruptions occurred from the audience. 

Gaines introduced herself and her background as a collegiate athlete turned political activist.  

“It's amazing to me that I have been dubbed this courageous, brave figure because I'm not. I'm not. It's not brave to say that there are two sexes. It's not brave to say that men and women are different,” Gaines said during her speech. 

Gaines said she visits college campuses because she feels young people have influence and are often left out of political conversations. 

“The good news is that this is a worldly, cultural war. It can be won,” Gaines said. “That's where everyone in this room comes in to play.”

Outside Dale Hall, a group of about 25 people protested Gaines’ appearance with signs and fliers. Ari Berkowitz, an OU biology professor protesting the event, said feelings toward transgender people are worse than he's ever seen.

“We live in a time that's very scary for trans and nonbinary people,” Berkowitz said. “They're being attacked publicly in all kinds of ways, worse than ever before.” 

Zane Smith, an OU engineering junior who was also protesting the event, said he thinks events like Gaines’ speech take attention away from more pressing issues.

“It's a free country. You can identify however you want to. It shouldn't be a big deal who is playing in sports,” Smith said. “A lot of this hate is just a distraction, especially from right-wing groups, a distraction from the fact that they aren't doing anything to help people in this country.”

During Gaines’ presentation, the OU Student Socialist League held a “Trans Teach-In and Clothing Swap” in collaboration with Red Dirt Collective, an organization working to empower the poor and working class of Norman, at the Physical Sciences Center. 

According to a spokesperson for the Student Socialist League, the organization originally planned the teach-in as a form of protest against Gaines’ presence but instead opted to organize an event that spoke to the larger issue of anti-transgender rhetoric. 

“We wanted to make an event that would actually support our trans comrades on campus and provide education and strategy to achieve trans liberation. We believe that political action requires more than protest,” the league’s spokesperson wrote in a GroupMe message to the Daily. "It requires the building of organizations and community networks that can not only resist the deluge of transphobia and bigotry, but build the foundation for real socialist alternatives."

Jackson Farria, another protester outside Dale Hall and OU engineering junior, said he loves OU and its community, but he's disappointed the university allowed Gaines to speak on campus. Farria's dad, Shawn Farria, was an OU football reserve running back from 2001 to 2003.

“I love sports. Sports are my whole life, so for someone to … look some person in the eye who is being who they want to be, and say, ‘You can't play,’ that's messed up,” Farria said. 

During the Q&A section of the event, a student asked Gaines to respond to the argument that there are too few transgender athletes in women’s sports to constitute a real problem. Gaines said the argument was misogynistic. 

“Is that one girl not enough?” Gaines said. “How many more girls have to be impacted before you care? Because for me, one is too many.”

Adri Vega, an OU arts and sciences sophomore, wasn't planning on going to the event tonight but was curious as to what was being said. She said she wanted to understand Gaines’ religious values because she felt some of what Gaines said did not fit her view of Christianity.

“As a Christian, I think it's really hard to watch people kind of use this gospel of love and weaponize it against trans people and minorities,” Vega said. 

Vega asked Gaines about the rhetoric she used during the presentation, specifically phrases such as “war on woke” and “men in dresses,” used in reference to protesters at an event she spoke at at San Francisco State University in 2023.

According to Gaines, she was assaulted by protesters who disrupted the speech she gave at San Francisco State University in 2023. Protesters allegedly turned off the lights in the classroom and Gaines was rushed into another room with police and “held for ransom” for almost five hours. 

An article from Golden Gate XPress, San Francisco State University’s student publication, reported that university police conducted an investigation and found Gaines’ claims were unfounded.

In response to Vega, Gaines said she felt her word choice was warranted because she is not intentionally targeting transgender people but instead is in support of women. 

“The only people I believe who have been made a joke out of (during this process) are women,” Gaines said. 

Who is Riley Gaines?

In 2022, Gaines tied for fifth place with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving championships. 

Debates on the fairness of Thomas competing in women’s sports as a transgender athlete were already circulating before her competition with Gaines. 

Since competing with Thomas, Gaines became a prominent advocate of barring transgender women from competing in women’s sports. Gaines has amassed over 1.5 million followers on the social platform X, and over 600,000 on Instagram. 

Gaines joined over a dozen other athletes in March 2024 in filing a lawsuit against the NCAA, saying it violated the athletes’ Title IX rights by allowing Thomas to compete. The lawsuit demands the NCAA “render invalid and reassign” awards given to transgender athletes in women’s competitions. 

Gov. Kevin Stitt publicly supported Gaines and the lawsuit in a post on X, calling Gaines a “generational leader” in women’s sports.

Riley has been a generational leader on protecting women’s sports. We have separate men and women’s sports for a reason— it’s common sense to most of us. We’re rooting for you, @Riley_Gaines_ ! https://t.co/JbIsN0QgPQ

— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) March 15, 2024

The NCAA changed its policy in February after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rescind federal funding from programs that allow transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. 

The order supports Trump’s campaign promise to combat “gender ideology” as he continues to curb gender-affirming health care and transgender rights in the U.S.

Vandalism prior to event

On March 26, Kalib Magana, OU Turning Point USA president, told OU Daily that an unknown person graffitied the words “Nazi grift” on the back of a promotional banner for Gaines’ appearance, with the words “BOO” spray painted on the front. 

Magana filed a report with the OU Police Department, who are actively investigating the case. 

The next day, while OU Turning Point USA was promoting the event on the South Oval, an OU student began kicking down yard signs of the event in front of Magana and Turning Point USA member Jordan Cantrell. When Magana went up to confront them, the student grabbed his phone, pushed him, stole a yard sign and ran away. 

Cantrell said shortly after the first incident with Magana, another student began knocking their yard signs over again.

According to Magana, he filed another police report for the student who pushed him. He said OUPD has identified the student and issued them “citations” for “assault and battery” and “molestation of property.” 

“The moral of the story is every single person who vandalizes, touches our signs, ruins our signs, commits a crime, they will be held accountable, and police are going to be looking for them,” Magana said. 

Magana told OU Daily he intends on reporting another instance of vandalism to the police. He said during the evening of the assault on March 27, he saw two people steal signs by ripping them out of the ground. Magana said he told the people stealing signs to put them back or he would call the police, to which they allegedly told him to “call the police.” Magana said the two people eventually threw the signs back at him as he called the police. 

PHOTOS: OU Turning Point USA event

This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Ana Barboza, Peggy Dodd and Ismael Lele. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.