Riley Gaines spoke at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2024 about the absurdity of the Democrat Party and victories across America to protect women’s sports. She cautioned, however, that we’re only about halfway there as Democrat-controlled states continue to allow men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports.
In November, Americans showed up to reject “absurdity,” Gaines suggested, which she said is exactly what the Democrat Party has become.
“Entirely and thoroughly absurd,” she said. “They have become a cult that does not believe in freedom. They don’t believe in free speech, they don’t believe in school choice, they don’t believe in parental rights, or the safeguarding of children, they certainly don’t believe in free thought. They do not believe in freedom unless it’s the freedom to kill a developing baby in the womb or to chemically or surgically castrate children. And they’ve become totally out of touch with reality. Actually, not even just out of touch with reality, they have become anti-reality and they have lost the ability to communicate with common-sense, everyday Americans.”
Gaines said so-called “gender-affirming care” is the biggest medical scandal the world has ever seen. And, she added that Democrats putting men in women’s sports was the “sleeper issue” of the election.
Because Democrats support men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports, girls are missing out on opportunities, being exploited in locker rooms and getting injured in sports. But 25 states have passed some sort of law protecting sports on the basis of sex. And 14 million women in eight different states are protected by a bill that codifies and defines the word “woman” in state statute.
“I cannot even believe that we have reached a point in time where we have to do that,” Gaines said. “Pass legislation to define entry-level, basic words like woman.”
A source of hopefulness for Gaines is the fact a handful of women’s volleyball teams refused to play matches this season against San Jose State due to a transgender player being on the San Jose State team.
“These girls have told me, ‘Yes, it might appear as if we’re stepping down. We know we’re taking a loss on our record. But we’re not actually stepping down, we’re standing up,’” Gaines said. “‘We’re standing up for ourselves and the many generations of women to come.’”
As for the difficulty that comes with speaking out in support of protecting women’s sports, Gaines said people need to trust God’s calling for them.
“Trust God’s calling for you. This is never where I saw myself,” she said. “This is never what I wanted to do. This was never what I was prepared for. I was in dental school after college. But I was really, really wrong in assuming that that’s how God works – that He calls those who are already prepared because that’s not what He does at all. He prepares those who He calls. And if He brings you to something He will certainly bring you through it.
“We were not saved to be silent. So be bold. Say the controversial thing. Call out injustice when you see it and never ever apologize for speaking the truth.”
Gaines said there will be pushback, but conservatives have to take it on the chin. She is often asked how she deals with all the negativity, and it’s simple.
“It’s easy to say the things that I’m saying,” she said. “I haven’t said anything that is overly profound or anything that makes me wise. I literally have a platform for saying there are two sexes and you can’t change your sex and each sex is deserving of equal opportunity, of privacy and of safety. And with that, it will inevitably come with baseless name-calling and petty personal attacks. But that should only reaffirm your position and encourage you to speak louder. So let them call you names. It speaks more to their own insecurities than it does about you.”
Cancel culture is fading, she said, as evidenced by the Trump Dance. The Trump Dance is proof of the return of free speech and free expression. It signifies that cancel culture doesn’t hold the grip it once did.
“You don’t have to be a closeted conservative anymore– you are the majority,” she said. “The American People have won for now, but the biggest mistake that you could possibly make is to become complacent. Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure. Complacency is the enemy for growth and for progress. So you must keep your foot on the gas because if we don’t, if the people in this room won’t, then who in the world will?”
Gaines said it’s easy to believe the government and media have our best interest at heart, but it isn’t the proven reality.
“Power has proven itself to be an addictive drug,” Gaines said.
She called out Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell for serving as long as they have, noting they are addicted to power and money.
“Both are perfect examples of why we desperately need term limits,” she added. “I say that to say it’s up to us, we the people, to hold our leaders accountable and make sure they do what they say they’re going to do because seldom do people do the right and the moral thing unprovoked.”
Finally, Gaines told the attendees not to forget.
“Don’t forget the people who touted ‘Follow the science’ all while telling you that men could become pregnant and breastfeed,” she said. “Do not forget the people who cheered on and quite frankly have swooned over a deranged murderer yet wanted to imprison for a life a Marine and a hero named Daniel Penny. Do not forget the people who posted a black square to their Instagram social screaming Black Lives Matter yet have stayed totally silent to the largest genocide this world has ever seen, which is disproportionately killing black babies called abortion.
“Do not forget those who say that Trump is equivalent to Hitler and will weaponize the DOJ against his political opponents when that is exactly what they have done for nearly a decade now and know that Trump is not their final goal, it’s people like you and people like me. Do not forget the people who drove around town double-masked alone in their car. The people who haven’t said a single word about the 500,000-plus missing children in this country at the hands of Border Czar Harris. Do not forget the people whose go-to strategy is to call Trump a liar but performed one of the most consequential cover-ups of all time by lying to you about President Bidne’s condition and mental state.”
Gaines said she isn’t saying not to forgive, but she is saying there is value in using history as a foundational basis for judgment moving forward.
