Riley Gaines, an outspoken critic of transgender athletes competing against women, is the keynote speaker at the Mahoning County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner on March 16.

“Having her as a speaker is very relevant to what’s happening in today’s sports and society,” Tom McCabe, party chairman, said. “It has nothing to do with being against anyone. It’s being in favor of fairness. I have three daughters. I wouldn’t want my daughters competing against, and sharing a locker room with, a biological man.”

The dinner is at Waypoint 4180 in Canfield, starting at 6 p.m.

Tickets are $125 each and can be obtained online at mahoninggop.com or by calling party headquarters at 330-629-7006.

The banquet center can hold about 550 to 600 people with most of the party’s events averaging about 400 to 500, McCabe said.

Gaines, 23, attracted national attention for her opposition to transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.

While a swimmer for the University of Kentucky, Gaines finished in a fifth-place tie in the 2022 national college freestyle swimming championship with Lia Thomas, the first openly transgender athlete to compete at such an event. The NCAA has permitted transgender athletes to compete since 2010.

Gaines has advocated against permitting transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports and to share locker rooms with them. She has spoken at a number of conservative Republican events in opposition to it.

In her pinned post on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, Gaines wrote: “Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title. He is an arrogant cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman.”

Gaines also has been critical of President Joe Biden, a Democrat. Gaines had endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in June 2023 when he was a candidate over former President Donald Trump, who is the clear Republican front-runner for the position this year. DeSantis’ campaign paid $11,700 to Gaines two months later in what it called “political strategy consulting” two months after the endorsement.

McCabe said booking Gaines is part of his effort during the past five years to find “topical speakers” for party events.

“She’s a really good person to bring in,” McCabe said. “It’s relevant to topics being discussed within our party and the country. We just went through the Legislature overriding the governor’s veto on men competing against female athletes.”

Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, vetoed legislation on Dec. 29 to ban gender-affirming care for minors and prohibit transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The Republican-controlled House and Senate subsequently overrode DeWine’s veto.

Gaines testified at a November hearing in the state Senate in support of the bill.

Chris Anderson, Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman, said of the Gaines booking: “It shows the only thing the Republicans are interested in is bringing in divisive speakers who only care about wedge issues. I wish Republicans cared about what’s in people’s pockets instead of what’s in people’s pants.”

In the past few years, the Mahoning Republicans have had a number of high-profile speakers, some of whom are polarizing, at their fundraisers.

They include Tim Ballard, whose efforts to stop sex trafficking inspired a movie; Tulsi Gabbard, a Fox News contributor who left the Democratic Party; Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager; Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary who was later elected Arkansas governor; and Candace Owens, a conservative political commentator known for supporting Trump.

“We’re known across the state for packing in a lot of people for our events,” McCabe said.

The dinner is three days before the March 19 primary.