An image depicting former NCAA women’s swimming star Riley Gaines as the evil clown from It was used for posters circulated around the University at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) campus ahead of the swimmer’s April 13 appearance at the school to whip up the same type of mob that assaulted her at San Francisco State University last week.
Gaines, who has been visiting universities to deliver a speech about saving women’s sports from biological men, shared the posters to social media. One of the flyers depicted the swimmer as a character from the film, It, which read, “Transphobia returns.”
Riley Gaines trapped in hallway at SFSU (Golden Gate Xpress/Twitter)
“Some pictures of me around @UBuffalo campus in light of my appearance next week. I’ll never understand people putting this much effort into something/someone they don’t like. All for saying men and women are physiologically different….” Gaines wrote in a tweet in which she shared the flyers.
Some pictures of me around @UBuffalo campus in light of my appearance next week. I’ll never understand people putting this much effort into something/someone they don’t like😂 All for saying men and women are physiologically different…. pic.twitter.com/HgLmJqixFM
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 4, 2023
“You’re being ‘silenced?’ Damn! You must be joking! We can’t stop hearing from you people!” another poster, which included an image of Gaines, read.
A third flyer featuring an image of the swimmer read, “See her talk about how she wasn’t able to beat a trans woman one time so now she’s trying out being a conservative pundit!”
Gaines, a 12-time All-American and five-time SEC champion, has advocated for sports to be separated on the basis of biological sex. This comes as biological males, such as University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, are infiltrating women’s sports.
Last year, Gaines tied Thomas for fifth place in the women’s 200-meter NCAA championships. Gaines has also said that Thomas “dropped his Pants” and exposed “male genitalia” in the women’s locker room following swim meets.
Last week, during an appearance at San Francisco State University, Gaines was “ambushed” and “hit by a man wearing a dress” on campus after giving a speech about saving women’s sports during a Turning Point USA and Leadership Institute event.
Gaines’ agent said, “Instead of a thoughtful discussion tonight at SFSU, Riley was violently accosted, shouted at, physically assaulted, and barricaded in a room by protestors.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.