WATCH: Riley Gaines receives standing ovation at Christian college
Less than one week after protesters swarmed Riley Gaines at San Francisco State University, her Apr. 11 speech at Liberty University concluded with a standing ovation.
'The room was full of shining leaders who were secure in themselves and their identity in Christ,' Gaines told Campus Reform.
Less than one week after protesters swarmed Riley Gaines at San Francisco State University (SFSU), her speech at Liberty University concluded with a standing ovation.
In a video obtained by Campus Reform, Gaines speaks at an Apr. 11 event hosted by the student organization Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Truth. She calls the “nice, welcoming, tolerant, accepting, kind, inclusive crowd” at Liberty “refreshing.”
As a former college athlete on a “Save Women’s Sports” speaking tour, Gaines is often met with fierce backlash from protesters over allegations of “transphobia.” She told Campus Reform that what she experienced at Liberty, a Christian college in Lynchburg, Va., is “rare.”
“The room was full of shining leaders who were secure in themselves and their identity in Christ,” Gaines says.
During her speech, she thanks the event’s sponsor and parent organization of Campus Reform, the Leadership Institute (LI). Gaines then describes the aftermath of her speech at SFSU, where she was ambushed with “no police involvement” until one of the protesters hit her.
[RELATED: SF State admin sides with Riley Gaines’ attackers, blocks her on social media]
“We could not evacuate the building because there were too many people involved in this protest,” Gaines tells the audience. While she was trapped in the green room for nearly three hours, protesters “were yelling, tormenting, screaming just very terrible, violent, vengeful things.”
Since the attack on Gaines at SFSU, those who attended her subsequent events describe an increased security presence. At the University at Buffalo, an LI staff member “estimate[d] that there [were] nearly as many security personnel as there were protesters,” according to a previous report from Campus Reform.
Callista Mendoza, an LI regional field coordinator, says that there were “no issues whatsoever” at Liberty.
“I lost count after 254 bodies in the room,” she told Campus Reform. “We had standing room only.”
Though Gaines, according to Mendoza, spoke to an audience of Christian conservatives, Gaines’ speech also describes the importance of addressing people who disagree with her. But at SFSU, her opponents were “verbally and physically violent.”
[RELATED: ‘Don’t be hypocritical!’: The Young Turks condemn Gaines attack]
“They don’t have science, data, reason, logic, common sense, or the truth on their side,” Gaines told Campus Reform. “When a group of people have to try this hard to suppress your speech, you know you are doing something right.”
Campus Reform contacted all relevant parties listed for comment and will update this article accordingly.