It was two years ago this past Wednesday that one of the great "where you you when..." moments of the Obama/Biden-era culture war took place: feminist sports figure Riley Gaines, her entourage and her security detail were besieged by a mob of "transgender" activists after an attempt to appear at San Fransisco State University.
After disrupting her attempt to talk about her experience going up against the NCAA's pro-transgender dogma - which led to her losing a fifth-place trophy in the national championships to Lea Thomas, who'd been swimming as man ranked in the lowesr middle of the pack a year earlier - things went rapidly downhill:
Two years ago, the locals weren't exactly coy about their sympathies:
But last Wednesday, she returned - and the scene was very different:
Two years ago, @Riley_Gaines_ was ambushed at San Francisco State University for speaking the truth.
— Riley Gaines Center (@RileyGCenter) April 9, 2025
Tonight, she returned to the same campus—unshaken, unafraid, unapologetic.
A pro-trans protestor attempted to disrupt her speech but was quickly removed. The difference between… pic.twitter.com/bQb7RkNBsL
It seems the campus and local police - who allegedly sat on the sidelines during the 2023 fiasco - were more involved this time around:
Tuesday evening’s event “The Fight is Far From Over” follows her first appearance on campus, one that lacked proper collaboration with TPUSA and the University Police Department, according to Navid Mehdipour, graduate and founder of SFSU’s TPUSA chapter.
“There was communication between staff and police,” Mehdipour said. “It was a big factor and this time it went much better than expected.”
Which is not to say there wasn't friction, according to Outkick (which also hosts Gaines' podcast):
Once again, the left-wing agitators couldn't help themselves, setting up a protest outside the event. One protester attended the speech and shouted obscenities at Gaines until police escorted the man out of the room to cheers from the crowd.
The man called Gaines a "motherf***er" and a "loser b**ch" during his rant.
Some people just know how to make an entrance:
Unhinged video I just took of protestor at @Riley_Gaines_ speech in San Francisco pic.twitter.com/sbPmNtwNiR
— Evan Barker (@evanwch) April 9, 2025
And the left-leaning Golden Gate Express's anger seeps through just a little in its coverage - in an article entitled, with all the subtlety of a German jazz band, "Anti-trans athlete activist Riley Gaines to return to SFSU":
An hour before the event, a group called Mutual Support will host a soccer game outside of the conference center in protest against transphobic speakers and in support of trans rights, according to flyers found on campus. At approximately the same time of the event, the Associated Students Queer & Trans Resource Center will host an event titled “Centering Trans Voices.” This event will feature a panel on the lived experiences and advocacy of transgender individuals, with several professors from campus participating. Alexa Huaman, the center’s director, is hosting the event to help transgender people on campus feel safe and included.
“It’s a really scary time for trans and queer people, so I’m really making this event to be like, ‘Hey, it’s crazy, but it’s always been a crazy path for us,’” Huaman said. “It’s nothing new, but this is what’s happened in the past, and this is why it’s relevant now.”
The lack of a riot is certainly good news, and not something I'd have predicted two years ago - other than to predict it would get a lot worse.
So that's good news.
