Davis public library speaker misgendered trans athletes. Did her free speech cross a line?

Yolo County Moms for Liberty billed their Sunday event at the Davis public library as a forum on “Fair and Safe Sports for Girls,” but the ouster of their speaker from the facility has raised a different point of debate: What are the limits of free speech in public spaces?

The event at Mary L. Stephens Davis Library brought dozens of attendees including protesters that carried a variety of pride flags and signs expressing support of LGBTQ+ people. The event organizers and their supporters take issue with the state policy allowing trans youth to compete on teams that align with their gender identity. They say it robs cisgender female athletes of a fair shot in sports.

Former collegiate athlete Sophia Lorey spoke at the library event.

“At 18, I was able to live out my dream,” Lorey told the crowd. “But current 10 year old girls cannot live out the same dream as long as men are allowed to compete in women’s sports.”

“We don’t want any transgender females being called male in sporting events with females,” a library official told Lorey and the crowd early on during her speech after complaints from the audience. “If that happens, it’s not following our code of conduct and we will ask the person who says it to leave immediately.”

Lorey went on to use “biological men,” instead, but was soon asked to leave, a move she sees as violating her right to free speech. “I felt like there was ideological discrimination,” Lorey later told The Sacramento Bee.

An uproar quickly broke out. An attorney with Lorey, who is outreach coordinator for the conservative advocacy group California Family Council, tried to step in — but as she continued, it quickly became clear that her rhetoric was not going to fly.

The clash at the Davis library took place with the backdrop of California lawmakers pledging to protect inclusive policies for trans students. Advocates for LGBTQ+ youth, local officials, and parent activists have jockeyed to have their voice heard in public spaces. That debate has led to protests at the capitol, proposed legislation and the ejection of state superintendent Tony Thurmond from a public meeting in Chino Valley Unified.

The issue is a ‘red herring’, protesters charge

The event drew local advocates in support of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans youth. Among the nearly 30 protesters in an array of rainbow decoration was Anoosh Jorjorian, director of Yolo Rainbow Families, a social and advocacy group for families in Yolo County with LGBTQ+ members.

Jorjorian has been dealing with similar flareups at the local school board since December, when they heard reports about anti-trans rhetoric during public comment. For Jorjorian, showing up to the library was not just about “putting out fires,” but also to make sure people in the community didn’t think that “this is the only perspective.”

“What it takes for them (Moms For Liberty) to articulate their beliefs, the costs are not nearly as high as what it’s going to cost a trans teen to stand up for their own life,” Jorjorian said. “We can say all speech is free, but that does not mean that all speech is equally valued or equally validated. That is a truth that Moms for Liberty is unwilling to recognize.”

Jorjorian sees the clash at the library as part of a fight started by conservative advocates during the pandemic, who were able to capitalize on growing discontent about masking, school closures and disputes over how race and gender are discussed in the classroom.

While some of these groups present themselves as moderate or mildly liberal, Jorjorian said the ultimate impact of their actions perpetuates hate.

Video footage of the dispute drew hundreds of responses on X, formerly known as Twitter, and authorities announced a possible bomb threat against the library on Monday, with district officials evacuating a nearby elementary school. Moms for Liberty was recently designated an anti-government extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based social justice nonprofit, though group members deny any political or extreme affiliations.

“This whole issue of defending women’s sports is a red herring,” Jorjorian said. “When we have transphobia in sports, it damages cisgender women who don’t conform to a narrow definition of what it means to be a woman.... it implies that women are always inferior to men.”

Onward and outside?

Parent activists in support of Moms for Liberty contended that the concerns are about their children, not politics. Some in the room defended their stances as far from extreme, saying they are Democrats or support same-sex marriage.

As chair of the Yolo County Moms for Liberty, Beth Bourne reserved and paid fees for the room where the clash occurred. It’s the fifth library meeting the group has held this year, with other topics including detransitioning and appropriate books for children.

The library is a “public resource,” she told The Bee in an interview, and the group made sure to indicate that it’s event was not endorsed by the library in any capacity. Asked about her perspective on the dispute, Bourne requested The Bee send her written questions. She has not responded in time for publication.

To accommodate any concerns, Lorey said there was a Q&A period designated for the end of the conversation “whether you are in agreeance with us or not.”

After being asked to leave, she and event organizers went outside to a nearby public park with “Protect Female Athletes” and “Protect Female Sports” signs behind them.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the California Interscholastic Federation reiterated state law: “Students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records.”

Representatives for the library did not respond to request for comment.