Davis library shuts down forum on 'Fair and Safe Sport for Girls,' citing misgendering

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Library staff in Davis, California, removed an ongoing forum discussing "Fair and Safe Sport for Girls." The event was hosted by local parents and focused on the California Interscholastic Federation's policies regarding transgender athletes participating in high school girls' sports. The reason for the ejection was cited as misgendering.

Event organizers, among them Yolo County Mothers for Liberty Chairwoman Beth Bourne, had previously reserved the room at Mary L. Stephens Davis Library for a $75 fee. They had followed the same procedure for several similar events at this facility in the past, Just The News reports.

"The policies CIF has in place affect 320,000 girls in California, and yet very few parents and even athletes themselves understand where the policies originated and how they are expected to be enforced at the schools," said Bourne in a phone interview with The Center Square. "We want to bring transparency to high school sports and these policies, and how they impose risks and reduce girls' opportunities to excel in sports."

On a Sunday evening, the event was conducted with speakers such as Sophia Lorey, who is the Outreach Director for the California Family Council, Kim Jones, a Co-founder of the Independent Council on Women's Sports, Beth Bourne, and local parent Allie Snyder.

Invitations were extended by the organizers to various city officials, school authorities, athletic directors, community leaders, neighborhood groups, and civic organizations, in an effort to promote awareness of the event. Seventy-five people attended, with the organizers noting that roughly one-third of the attendees were in opposition to the event.

Not long after the event started, D. Scott Love, the Library Regional Manager for Yolo County, halted the proceedings, pointing to an instance of misgendering by Sophia Lorey. While introducing the event, Lorey referred to transgender male-to-female athletes as biological males, a description that Love deemed to be misgendering.

Prior to the event, Love had informed the organizers that any incidents of misgendering would be met with one warning, followed by a request to leave if it occurred again. He explained that such behavior was considered disrespectful and would violate the library's code of conduct.

In a video posted online, Love can be heard saying to Lorey, "I asked you to leave earlier…you are misgendering...you were saying male in female sports…if she does not leave the building, I will shut this program down."

After the event was halted, the organizers relocated it to the neighboring public park.

"We're peaceful – we didn't want anything to escalate, so we decided to relocate. We went to the park next to the library and were able to continue our discussion here. It was unfortunate because we had Kim Jones of ICON give a [remote] presentation on the importance of Title IX and women's sports, and she was not able to speak," said Snyder. "This really shows the intolerance of people who have been captured by gender ideology. They are unable and unwilling to listen to other points of view."

Snyder expressed confusion over the library's choice to stop this particular event, especially since it had hosted similar events with the same organizers in the past, albeit with some challenges. Despite successfully hosting events like a film screening and a talk on binary gender, the organizers faced issues such as being required to include a disclaimer about the library's non-endorsement of their views. These inconsistencies, not applied to other organizations including those opposed to the group and seemingly favored by the library, led to dissatisfaction among the parents with the library's handling of the situation.

In reaction to the event being halted at the library, the organizers have indicated that they are contemplating legal action on the basis of constitutional rights.