photo by: Alex Brandon/AP

President Donald Trump acknowledges Riley Gaines, center, as he speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.

A conservative Christian activist known for her fierce opposition to transgender girls and women competing in female sports is scheduled to speak at the University of Kansas on Wednesday.

Protesters have already vowed to show up for the event where 24-year-old Riley Gaines will appear. Gaines, a former Division 1 college swimmer, has made a name for herself campaigning against trans females in athletics and in women’s spaces. West Virginia’s recently enacted “Riley Gaines Act” is named for her. The act enshrines definitions of male and female into law and bars transgender women from women’s locker rooms, bathrooms, rape crisis centers, dormitories and prisons.

Kansas and numerous other states have similar legislation on the books.

Gaines, who will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Budig Hall, was invited to Lawrence by KU’s Turning Point USA chapter. Turning Point USA is a conservative youth organization founded by evangelical Christian and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

Another KU student group, Queer and Trans Students of Color, has announced that it will be protesting the event from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., with support from Out in Stem, KU Students for Justice in Palestine, Young-Democratic Socialist Association and the Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition.

“This strong show of support being coordinated across the community is evidence that hate and bigotry have no home in Kansas,” said Blair Brose, a spokesperson for QTSOC in an email to the Journal-World. “Riley Gaines lost in a swimming competition, finishing fifth and she has made a grift out of peddling hate and division for years since – attacking one athlete instead of all four of the swimmers who bested her.”

In 2022, swimming for the University of Kentucky, Gaines tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, of the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas went on to win the 500-yard freestyle at the same event, becoming the first openly trans woman champion in the NCAA women’s division.

Gaines, who hosts the Fox Nation podcast “Gaines for Girls,” has been active in helping the Trump administration revoke funding from any educational institution that allows transgender girls to play on girls’ teams. Gaines also has objected to transgender women competing at women’s chess tournaments.