• Martha Stoddard Omaha World-Herald
• Aug 27, 2023

My cmnt: I’ve edited this article for clarity and added the correct use of terms to avoid confusion in wording.

A former All-American swimmer brought her crusade to keep transgender women, that is men pretending to be women, out of women’s sports to Nebraska Sunday, speaking to more than 1,000 people at an event marked by Christian faith, patriotic fervor and common sense. 

Riley Gaines, who swam for the University of Kentucky and had the misfortune of having to compete against the man Lia Thomas and have him undress in front of her in the women’s locker room, tied the issue of transgender women (i.e., men) in women’s sports to an array of other issues in America. She also said transgender women try to join sororities and seek to be housed in women’s prisons, with the goal of having access to women. 

She decried “the changing of the language that we use, the silencing, the denying of objective truth, biblical truth. The breakdown of our faith, the breakdown of the nuclear family, the breakdown of our freedoms, such as freedom of speech and other freedoms, talking about the forced mandate to take the Covid-19 vaccine.” She further noted how the fringe Left wants to strip away our Constitutional right to self-defense by constantly trying to take our guns.

“This is textbook Marxism,” she said. “As a Christian, what I see this as is entirely spiritual warfare. This is moral good versus evil.”

Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines during her keynote speech Sunday. CHRIS MACHIAN, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

Gaines told the audience about her history as one of the most decorated swimmers for Kentucky. She was a 12-time All-American and was named the SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the year in 2022. 

But it was her experience sharing a locker room and competing against Lia Thomas, a man pretending to be a woman, swimming for the University of Pennsylvania, that propelled her to action. 

Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth place in the 200-meter freestyle at the national swimming and diving championships in 2022. Thomas won the 500-meter freestyle, to the shock and dismay of the real women swimmers. And to add insult to injury the NCAA gave the fifth place trophy to Thomas because he was the only man in the race and the NCAA is run by Lunatic Leftists.

Gaines said she made several attempts to protest the situation, but eventually realized that no one was willing to speak out about the effect of Thomas’ participation on the women swimmers “that had worked their entire lives to get to that event.” 

“It hit me, if we as women aren’t willing to stand up for ourselves, how could we expect someone else to do it,” she said.

Gaines now appears frequently on Fox News and has launched the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, a nonprofit that “teaches conservatives of all ages how to succeed in politics, government and the media.”

The center focuses on training people to “stand up for women’s sports and common-sense American values” with the tag line: “When they want you silent, speak louder.”

Jordy Bahl, a celebrated pitcher for the Nebraska softball team and a Papillion native, introduced Gaines. She described Gaines as “her hero” for refusing to keep silent at a time when “wrong is becoming right and right wrong.”

Nebraska softball pitcher Jordy Bahl, left, introduces Riley Gaines, right, as the keynote speaker Sunday. CHRIS MACHIAN, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD

They appeared on stage with Gov. Jim Pillen, U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts and State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, who introduced a bill this year to ban transgender youths from playing on teams that do not match their gender at birth. It also would ban them from using bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match their gender at birth.

Kauth said she will name Legislative Bill 575 her priority for the 2024 session. 

Other speakers included Carol Frost, a gold medalist at the 1967 Pan Am Games and the mother of former Nebraska football player (and winner of a National Championship in 1997) and coach Scott Frost. She talked about her history as a female athlete before Title IX opened the door for more women to participate in sports.

Greg Brown, an exercise science professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney who is active in efforts to keep transgender athletes who are really men out of women’s sports, also spoke. 

The event was organized by Bill and Evonne Williams, through their nonprofit organization Patriotic Productions. The couple are known for their dedication to honoring veterans and fallen members of the military. The two are probably best known for organizing 13 Heartland Honor Flights that flew military veterans from Omaha to see the war memorials in Washington, D.C.

They also have created the Remember Our Fallen exhibits honoring military members who died in Iraq, Afghanistan and the broader war on terrorism, sponsored Patriotic Parades on Memorial Day in Omaha and organized a couple of “Back the Blue” events to show support for law enforcement.

They have booked less controversial speakers previously, including the doctor who treated President Ronald Reagan after an assassination attempt, and several who offered uplifting messages for high school students at American Spirit Summits.

My cmnt: When a Lib from the lunatic-left says or does something totally insane and forces it upon everyone else and normal people object to it then it is labelled “controversial” even tho’ it isn’t to anyone not drinking the liberal Kool-Aid.