Protesting a speaker on a university campus is becoming one of the most worn-out tropes imaginable, and we saw it played out this week at the University of Toledo.
A speaker who personally experienced what she considers a violation of her rights spoke about that experience at the university on Tuesday.
She was invited there by a student organization and attracted a crowd.
That organization and the audience’s right to hear a speaker of their choice deserves to be respected.
It’s a widely held belief in our culture that when someone has their own “story” to tell they should be allowed to tell it.
An article this month to celebrate women’s history month by writer Christina Montoya Fieldler was headlined “Women’s History: The Importance of Telling Our Stories.”
When Riley Gaines, a female champion swimmer, attempted to tell her story at the UT Memorial Field House, numerous people representing the trans community turned out to protest outside the building.
The protest is understandable, given the stakes of this issue to the trans community.
Ms. Gaines told an audience of about 300 people about her experience competing in last year’s NCAA swimming and diving championships against the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender woman to win a national title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. She also placed fifth in the 200 freestyle, tying with Ms. Gaines.
As Ms. Gaines put it, she had to share “changing space” with a “fully intact male.” Ms. Thomas is biologically a male, with a grown man’s body, and that gives her a physical advantage over biological women.
When Ms. Gaines appeared at San Francisco State University on April 6 she was assaulted by protesters. That, thankfully, did not occur at Toledo.
This is a vexing topic for many Americans. We don’t need chants and threats and slogans or violence. What’s needed is discussion, persuasion.
Anyone who attended the protest and used the occasion to express their own experience as a trans person or in support of a trans person’s right to participate in collegiate athletics had the right to do so.
Anyone uttering a word in protest of Riley Gaines’ right to speak about her personal experience doesn’t respect our tradition of free speech. Ms. Gaines wasn’t spewing hate or bigotry. She was expressing her personal experience, something people on both sides of the issue should be open to hearing.
We applaud Ms. Gaines for her courage in speaking her mind.
First Published April 22, 2023, 4:00 a.m.
