Trans activists physically assaulted a women’s sports advocate during a Monday signing ceremony for a Texas bill that bans men from competing on women’s teams at the state’s public colleges and universities.
Michelle Evans, an activist who works to shield women’s spaces from transgender intrusion, was leaving Texas governor Greg Abbott’s signing event on Monday afternoon when protesters surrounded her and began to shout slogans, including “Let them play!” and “Trans Lives Matter!”
A video of the altercation posted on Twitter shows Evans wading through the crowd as demonstrators bark hostilities at her.
The activists held signs carrying slogans like, “Abbott the Coward” and “Ya’ll Means ALL.” One person is heard screaming, “We know where you f**king live!” to Evans.
Evans told National Review that protesters gathered at the only exit to taunt and harass ceremony attendees, including elected officials and girls as young as five.
The protesters threw water on her, pushed her, and hit her, she said, as well as screamed profanities such as “Go to Hell.”
The individual who spit on Evans was apprehended, she noted. “I will pursue charges for assault,” Evans said.
Governor Greg Abbott ceremonially signed the “Save Women’s Sports Act” at the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame on Monday. He officially signed it into law in June after it passed in the state legislature.
The bill empowers female players to sue a Texas public college or university or intercollegiate athletic team that violates the provisions barring male participation in their sports division. In 2021, Governor Abbott signed a similar law to protect girls’ sports in Texas public K-12 schools.
“Women’s sports, women’s records, women’s teams, women’s locker rooms, all are jeopardized when biological men are allowed to compete,” Abbott said at the ceremony.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan sat beside Abbott as he signed the document.
Gaines became an advocate for fairness in women’s sports after tying for fifth with transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200-meter NCAA championship last year. Thomas went on to become the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship.
“Even in the great state of TX, protestors have tried to find a way to smear the celebration of Governor Abbott signing SB 15 which protects female collegiate athletics,” Gaines told National Review. “But they can’t! Gov Abbott’s leadership is foundational and I’m hopeful more states will follow suit. Bottles are being thrown, protestors are spitting in people’s faces, profanity is being yelled at children. Law enforcement has stepped in and provided protection.”
Formerly Thomas’ teammate, Scanlan testified to a House Judiciary subcommittee last week that she had to change in the same locker room as him many times, which was traumatic given her experience as a sexual-assault survivor. Scanlan told the New York Post that she had nightmares for weeks after sharing the space with Thomas.
The ceremony was “intended to be a celebration for the protection of women and girls sports,” Scanlan told National Review. “I was shocked that the protestors outside prevented us from leaving and even verbally attacking and spitting on families with kids. I understand different opinions, but attacking others is not an effective way to voice disagreement.”