CHAUTAUQUA–Meet Riley Gaines.

Now 24 years old and newly married, she has put her dental-school admission on hold to spread the word about her and others’ college-swim-team experience.

She began swimming at age 4 and soon took it up competitively, as many children do.

In the ensuing years, she worked hard to develop her skills and became a top-notch swimmer. That meant many hours in a pool, week after week, month after month, year after year.

She was so good that, as a member of the University of Kentucky women’s swim team and class of 2023, she was on the verge of winning a National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, title.

But then someone new surprisingly came onto the scene–someone whom neither Gaines, her teammates, nor their coaches had ever heard of–and started beating other women’s swim-team members by several body lengths.

Imagine that. Several body lengths in races commonly won by several finger lengths. Or fewer.

How could this be? Who was this newcomer? Why had no one ever heard of the newcomer?

Well, the newcomer was going by a new name and had never been on a girls’ or women’s swim team.

But why not? Where did this ability, this talent, come from? Why was it just now emerging?

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Speaking to Advocates for Balance at Chautauqua, or ABC, on July 8, Gaines said the newcomer was 6 feet, 4 inches tall, had XY chromosomes, and had muscle structure to match.

Though a capable swimmer, the newcomer hadn’t done well on a men’s swim team. After joining a women’s team, the newcomer’s star shone brightly.

No wonder.

In the 2022 NCAA event that many anticipated Gaines would win, she took second place to the newcomer.

What’s more, the newcomer–whom Gaines describes as “fully intact”–shared a locker room with Gaines and other women. And women’s competitive swim suits fit tightly. She said it takes 20 minutes to put one on. Even if one could put it on and get out of the locker room quickly, that wouldn’t resolve the situation.

How would you react if this happened to a young female family member or friend?

What really made Gaines determined to speak up wasn’t the locker-room experience but this: She and the newcomer tied in an event. Down to the hundredth of a second. In that race, the newcomer “couldn’t even beat me,” Gaines said with a laugh. Yet there was only one first-place trophy, and the newcomer got it.

That’s when she asked herself: How could she expect someone else to stand up for her if she wasn’t willing to stand up for herself?

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Gaines stresses her stand “is not against anything” but is “pro-woman.”

She called allowing the newcomer to share a locker room “a betrayal.”

She even had to go to sensitivity training. Those who didn’t like the situation had to go to counseling, she said. Those not submitting were targets of name calling and accusations.

One would think women’s rights advocates from across the political spectrum would revolt against what Gaines and other women have endured.

But that hasn’t happened. Many are quiet. Why? Gaines agrees they’re afraid to speak up.

No wonder.

They’re afraid of those promoting “diversity” of many kinds yet not diversity of thought. Dare to disagree with them, and you’ll have a fight–of one form or another–on your hands. Your choices may be to fight or keep quiet.

Not everyone is willing to fight this fight. That’s understandable.

Yet others don’t mind being in the arena of ideas for this one. Gaines, who is among them, is nothing if not bright, persuasive, and courageous.

Now the author of a book called Swimming Against the Current, Gaines urges others to join her in not being afraid to speak up.

She particularly urges others to speak up before being impacted.

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Meanwhile, the Biden administration–specifically, the Education Department–has promulgated Title IX regulations on these subjects and more.

The full 1561 page “explanation and justification” for them is beyond the scope of today’s column, yet you, faithful reader of this column, should have a look.

To put it simplistically, pages 1268 and 1524 would seem to require letting the newcomer compete against Gaines and other women yet neither require nor prohibit the newcomer’s sharing a locker room with them.

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On its website, https://www.abcatchq.com, ABC posts videos of all of its speakers.

ABC was formed in 2018. Its mission is “to achieve a balance of speakers in a mutually civil and respectful environment consistent with the historic mission of Chautauqua” Institution. ABC is its own Section 501(c)(3) organization, legally separate from the institution.

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Dr. Randy Elf’s Aug. 20, 2020, ABC presentation, on “How Political Speech Law Benefits Politicians and the Rich,” is at https://works.bepress.com/elf/21.

COPYRIGHT 2024 BY RANDY ELF