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 in the “save women’s sports” movement after an argument with Arizona state senator Catherine Miranda.

While lobbying for a bill that would provide protections for girls and women’s sports in Arizona, Ray shared at a state education hearing Tuesday her experience enduring the San Jose State volleyball scandal and leading the team to defeat a male athlete in protest.

Miranda responded by commenting on Ray’s body and then asked: “So how competitive do you really think you are?”

Ray’s condition did not go well during and after the trial.

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Ray told Fox News Digital: “How can you look me in the eye and ask me if I’m competitive? Frankly, I’m standing in front of you right now and I’m fighting for something. I don’t know what part of that is not competitive for you. But if you want to fight toe-to-toe, then we can fight.”

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

“I was just trying to maintain professionalism right now, we’re in a professional environment. I was just trying to be respectful and courteous,” he said. “But inside I was angry.” Ray even had to call his family to vent after the hearing.

When Miranda initially began addressing Ray, the senator said: “So you look pretty healthy… You look pretty fit and strong.”

Ray didn’t even know what to make of this.

“When he started saying those words, all I thought was: ‘Where could he possibly go with this?’ he said. “As we continued talking, it became clear to me that for whatever reason, my physical appearance or height must have some sort of impact on how competitive I am with men. So I was definitely caught off guard.”

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

“Usually when they realize they’ve lost the story a little bit, they just throw their story aside and run away. I’m reminded that common sense isn’t that prevalent here. And I’m not sure what statement you can come up with that would paint it in a good light,” Ray said. “That wasn’t a logical argument at all.”

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During Miranda’s response, she talked about her own experience competing with “the boys.”

“It’s a sports mentality when you grow up and how competitive you are going to be. So it’s not just a silver bullet for a community of sports players, it depends on the person how competitive you want to be. So you grew up one way. I grew up a different way. I would accept a guy right away. I played too, sometimes I was the only girl playing sports. But if there was a boy on my team, I would welcome it,” said Miranda.

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

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According to an article in 2017 Spanish Engineer and TechnologyMiranda has previously talked about her experience working out with her brother.

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

Ray says he also has brothers and competes with them casually, but he doesn’t believe that experience can be applied to high-level sports, especially at the Division I NCAA level.

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

“I’ve been playing volleyball since I was eight years old, and when I was in high school, my older brother… my mom got him to try volleyball.”

Ray said he refused to even train at that level with his brother and male teammates.

“It was dangerous,” he said. “It’s ridiculous that I have to explain this to him.”

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Ray said he would accept an apology if Miranda apologized.

“I think if he had given me a real apology I would have accepted it. Frankly, he comes from an ignorant place,” Ray said. “I absolutely need to see action to show that you understand and recognize the truth, the ground truth.”

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