A former college athlete is looking into suing a California library after she was kicked out during a speech she made at the library, saying she felt her "First Amendment right was violated."
Sophia Lorey had been speaking at the Mary L. Stephens Davis Library in Davis, California, on Sunday when she was asked to leave after speaking out against transgender athletes competing in women's sports. The following night, Lorey was asked during an appearance she made on Fox News's Hannity if she would file a lawsuit over the situation.
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"I am moving forward with looking into the best options, and I do believe my First Amendment right was violated," Lorey said.
All I did was say that “Current 10 year old girls cannot live out the same dream [I had] as long as men are allowed to compete in womens sports.” No one should be punished for stating a biological fact.
— Sophia Lorey (@SophiaSLorey) August 22, 2023
Thank you @seanhannity for having me on tonight. Thank you @Riley_Gaines_… pic.twitter.com/QmipN8rn1W
Lorey said she only got to speak at the event for two minutes before a librarian asked her to leave. She also said it was "extremely upsetting" for a government official to violate her freedom of speech and that she did not want "any other American or any other girl" to experience what she went through during her forum.
Riley Gaines, a major voice in the protecting women's sports movement, appeared with Lorey on the show, praising her for her courage to speak at the event and saying that she has lawyers who could support people like Lorey. She added that the freedom of speech is "under threat" everywhere, including on college campuses, in the media, and in academics.
"There's so many different realms where we're seeing this threat really have us in a chokehold, which is a pretty chilling thought, to be totally frank," Gaines said. "It's a pretty Marxist ideology to threaten our First Amendment rights, but we're seeing it time and time again, so definitely building out a legal team."
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Lorey posted on social media that she was asked to leave the event "because you are misgendering, you were talking about men in women sports." She added that the conference room where the event was held had been reserved at the library.
Today I was invited to share my personal storing of being a college athlete.
— Sophia Lorey (@SophiaSLorey) August 21, 2023
I was shocked by what happened.
I stated “Current 10 year old girls cannot live out the same dream [I had] as long as men are allowed to compete in womens sports. So now no matter how hard girls… https://t.co/uqTfdUteeN
Before leaving the event on Sunday, Erin Friday, a licensed California attorney, spoke at the event's podium and defended Lorey and her right to speak. Friday said she appreciated that people were attending the event to protest it but noted that "we all have First Amendment rights" and thus Lorey should have been allowed to speak.