Former volleyball star Kaylie Ray fires back at Arizona state senator’s comments

Former Utah State volleyball star Kaylie Ray became a viral folk hero of the “save women’s sports” movement after getting into a fight with Arizona State Senator Catherine Miranda.

Ray shared his experience with the San Jose State volleyball scandal and leading a team forfeit in protest against a male athlete, during a public hearing on education Tuesday, while pushing for a bill that would provide protections for women’s and women’s sports in Arizona.

Miranda responded by commenting on Ray’s body before asking, “So how competitive do you think you really are?”

This did not go over well with Ray, during or after the hearing.

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“How could you look me in the eye and ask me if I’m competitive. Obviously, I’m standing in front of you fighting for something right now. I don’t know what part of this is not competitive for you. But if you want to compete, we can compete,” Ray told Fox News Digital.

Ray fired back into the room, reiterating his point in the same tone he started with. But she had to make an effort to keep her composure.

“At that point I was trying to maintain my professionalism, we’re in a professional environment. I was just trying to be respectful and courteous,” she said. “But inside I was angry.” Ray even had to call his parents after the hearing to vent.

When Miranda began to address Ray, the senator said, “I mean, you look pretty healthy… You look really fit and strong.”

Ray didn’t even know what to think about it.

“When she started saying those words, all I could think was, ‘Where could she possibly be going with this?'” she said. “As she continued to speak, it was clear to me that, for one reason or another, my physical appearance or stature should have some effect on how competitive I am with men. So I was definitely caught off guard. »

Miranda and her office have not released a statement on the incident or the backlash. Fox News Digital reached out to Miranda’s office multiple times for a response.

“They usually hide their stories and run away when they realize they’ve lost the plot a little bit. It just reminds me that common sense isn’t that common around here. And I’m not sure what statement she can make to present it in a good light,” Ray said. “That was not a logical argument at all.”

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During Miranda’s response, she cited her own experience competing against “men.”

“It’s a sports mentality when you grow up and the level of competition you face. So it’s not just a silver bullet for a sports community, it’s the individual person who knows how competitive they want to be. So you grew up one way. I grew up a different way. I would have played a man in a heartbeat. I played, I was the only girl in sports sometimes. But to have a man on my team, I would have him appreciated,” Miranda said.

At no point in Miranda’s response did she use the word “transgender” or even “man” or “woman.” She simply referred to male opponents as “men.”

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According to a 2017 article in Hispanic engineer and technologyMiranda has previously spoken about her sports experience with her brother.

“Sports was my life. There were four girls and one boy in my family. My brother made me his ‘little brother’ so he could have someone to play sports with. I was 100 percent a tomboy,” and claimed she was the only girl playing in a local little league, the website reported.

Ray says she also had brothers and competed against them casually, but she doesn’t believe that experience is applicable to high-level sports, especially at the NCAA Division I level.

“I have brothers too. I know what it’s like to grow up competing against boys. But by the time puberty hit, there was a drastic difference,” Ray said.

“I had been playing volleyball since I was eight years old, and in high school, my brother, my older brother… my mom would make him try volleyball.”

Ray said she even refused to train with her brother and male teammates at that level.

“It was dangerous,” she said. “It’s stupid that I had to explain that to him.”

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Ray said she would accept an apology if Miranda made one.

“I think if she gave me a genuine apology, I would accept it. Obviously she’s coming from a place of ignorance,” Ray said. “I would definitely need to see some action on her part to show that she understands and recognizes the truth, the fundamental truth.”

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