Actress and former mixed martial artist Gina Carano came to the defense of champion collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines after she was forced to barricade herself in a safe room to protect herself from a threatening crowd of students at San Francisco State University.
Gaines, a recent University of Kentucky graduate who tied for fifth place with self-identified transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at the NCAA Championship last year, spent a harrowing night barricaded at the California school where she had been scheduled to deliver a talk for Turning Point USA. She reported on social media that she was “ambushed and physically hit twice by a man” as she attempted to leave the room.
Students demonstrating against Gaines shouted slogans such “trans rights are human rights” and demanded that she pay them in order to secure safe passage off of the campus.
Carano wrote on social media that the campus leftists were entirely out of line for their attack against Gaines, a leading proponent of protecting female sports leagues from men who identify as women. “This is so disgustingly abusive and harmful and it is encouraging acts of violence against women,” Carano remarked. “These protestors cannot debate this with logic or words so they resort to bullying and violence. Cowards.”
Carano, who maintained a 7-1 record when she competed in mixed martial arts league Strikeforce, added that female sports leagues promote wellbeing among their participants and that permitting men to compete in the events could eliminate such opportunities.
“The knowledge that comes with training, the excitement of getting a college scholarship to go play for a team or go to the Olympics and compete on a fair stage, the ability to make money and support themselves, sponsorships, entire futures are built on women competing in sports,” she continued. “Even if someone doesn’t end up becoming a professional, just playing for a team in high school can be life changing.”
Rising backlash against opponents of radical gender theory comes as Republican governors and legislators advance bills to protect female sports leagues and outlaw sex change procedures for minors, noting the permanent damage that surgeries and cross-sex hormones can render upon patients. Other bills passed by Republican states prohibit sexually suggestive and explicit drag shows in public or near children.
Gaines presently works with the Independent Women’s Forum to raise awareness about the risks that the erosion of female spaces by radical gender theorists poses to women. The organization condemned the violence against Gaines and lauded the courage she demonstrated in order to advocate for “truth, science and common sense.”
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Carano, who starred in the film “Terror on the Prairie” released by The Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend last year, also warned that violence against women who support sports leagues protected from males is “going to get worse” unless more people “speak out.”
Gaines had started her speech on protecting female athletes from unfair competition when demonstrators burst into the room. She said she was assaulted while police escorted her to safety.
“The prisoners are running the asylum,” Gaines said on social media. “This is proof that women need sex-protected spaces. Still only further assures me I’m doing something right. When they want you silent, speak louder.”