During a recent forum in Davis, California, a former Vanguard University soccer player faced resistance while advocating for fair and safe sports opportunities for girls. Sophia Lorey was invited to share her experience at the “Forum On Fair And Safe Sport For Girls,” held at a local library over the weekend.
However, while passionately discussing the importance of empowering and protecting girls’ sports and female athletes, woke LGBTQ activists present would not allow her to make her point.
It started when she found herself interrupted by an audience member who voiced concerns about her use of gendered language. “Are you going to misgender people throughout the entire thing?” an audience member, who is reportedly a librarian, asked.
As Lorey requested that the audience allow her to finish her talk before engaging in questions, a librarian spoke up, emphasizing that California state law recognizes trans women as women and thus, they deserve what he considers respectful treatment.
“They are protected under state law. Our policy talks about treating people with respect, and if you are misgendering somebody, that is not respectable,” the librarian added.
Lorey’s determination to continue sharing her perspective prevailed, albeit briefly. She drew attention to the challenges that arise when biological males compete in women’s sports. However, even after adjusting her language to say “biological men,” she still faced backlash from the woke LGBTQ activists, including the librarian.
In an unexpected twist, Lorey was warned about “misgendering” individuals and eventually asked to leave the forum. Another individual took the stage, ironically asserting their support for First Amendment rights while asking Lorey to leave.
Lorey later took to Twitter to express her shock at the incident and explained how her message was stifled. “I was shocked by what happened,” she shared.
She went on to explain, “I stated ‘Current 10 year old girls cannot live out the same dream [I had] as long as men are allowed to compete in womens sports. So now no matter how hard girls work…’ And then I was cut off and told by the librarian I would be removed, so then I continued talking saying “biological girls” and “biological men” to finish sharing my story. The librarian then told me to leave and if I won’t leave he will shut the entire meeting down.”
Today I was invited to share my personal storing of being a college athlete.
I was shocked by what happened.
I stated “Current 10 year old girls cannot live out the same dream [I had] as long as men are allowed to compete in womens sports. So now no matter how hard girls… https://t.co/uqTfdUteeN
— Sophia Lorey (@SophiaSLorey) August 21, 2023
The incident drew attention from other athletes, such as swimmer Riley Gaines, who sympathized with Lorey’s experience and called it “ridiculous.”
Gaines, who has faced the unfairness of trans women playing in women’s sports having played against trans swimmer Lia Thomas, stressed the need for open and civil conversations on issues surrounding transgender participation in sports.
“They won’t even engage in a civil conversation. Props to this gal for sticking her ground,” she tweeted.
This is ridiculous, but not shocking….a female athlete silenced for calling a spade a spade. They won't even engage in a civil conversation. Props to this gal for sticking her ground.
Do we know the librarians name and/or phone number? We need silent majority to do its thing https://t.co/EzlqGDbTZo
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) August 21, 2023
Speaking to OutKick, Gaines further stated, “This young girl joins the long list of female athletes silenced for opposing unfair competition and giving up consent in areas of undressing where males are present. Notice these were men trying to silence her and not women. Unfortunately, this isn’t surprising anymore. The silent majority is needed more than ever to restore sanity.”
