Brave Books’ latest wave of library Story Hours is taking on new life in 2024. 

On Friday, at the Library Center in Springfield, Missouri, professional swimmer and activist Riley Gaines and Bethany Hamilton—the champion surfer who survived a shark attack and continued to compete and win, partnered together to read from their Brave Books. 

Hamilton's title, Surfing Past Fear, is about overcoming fearful and limiting thoughts in order to stay in the game and beat the odds. Meanwhile, Gaines' first title, Happy No Snakes Day, is about the dangers of believing in lies, and that standing for truth is worth it, no matter what the consequences. 

Both of these women are vocal opponents of transgender men participating in women's sports, but they were also there to encourage and support families in building an Army of Truth in a culture that appears to want to traffic in lies and mistruths. 

Of course, there cannot be a Brave Books Story Hour event without the inevitable "peaceful protest."

Female athletes Bethany Hamilton and Riley Gaines — both known for their public opposition to transgender athletes in women's sports — are visiting The Library Center on Friday afternoon for a shared story hour.

Hamilton, a professional surfer who lost her left arm in a shark attack in 2003, and Gaines, a former competitive swimmer, are hosting Brave Books Story Hour at The Library Center at 4 p.m. Friday. Hamilton and Gaines will read from their books, "Surfing Past Fear" and "Happy No Snakes Day," respectively, during the event that is free and open to the public. Promotional materials announcing the event note that it is not sponsored by the Springfield-Greene County Library District.

[...]

When local LGBTQ activists and wives Brittany and Heather Dyer learned about the Brave Books Story Hour on Wednesday, they felt a fire ignite within them, Brittany Dyer said. In response, the two have planned a protest to take place during the story hour. Brittany Dyer is a member of The GLO Center executive board and has volunteered with PROMO, one of Missouri's largest LGBTQ advocacy organization.

The Dyers are encouraging folks to come sit quietly during the story hour, wearing LGBTQ-inclusive clothing. Brittany Dyer said she doesn't want to get loud; she just wants to take up space.

"When I see someone who has actively engaged with hate speech on a national level coming to our community to read a book that is also based in bigoted hate to our children, it's hard to sit back and not try to take up some space in that room," Dyer told the News-Leader on Wednesday.

🚨CALL TO ACTION
Join us as we do a sit in protest taking up space for our #trans friends and family. Wear inclusive shirts!!

Anti Trans activist Riley Gain’s will be reading her children’s 📚“Happy No Snakes Day” at the Library Center in Springfield this FRIDAY 4-8pm pic.twitter.com/gMKAWAaUDQ

— Brittany (@prideforMO) January 31, 2024

Yeah, it looks like the Dyers had really good luck with that.

After reading from their respective books, Gaines presented Hamilton with a True Woman of the Year Award for Hamilton's refusal to not back down in the face of backlash and lost revenue. Hamilton was recently dropped as a spokesperson for Ripcurl because of outspokenness on the subject, and was replaced by a transgender man.

Ripcurl deliberately chose to drop a biological woman who epitomizes strength, perseverance, power, and grace and ran full bore into the oncoming train of wokeness. 

As one commenter noted, they are getting the full "Bud Light," treatment.

If the photos from The Library Center Story Hour are any indication, it looks like they had a capacity crowd of avid Brave Book readers and not a whole lot of LGBTQ representation. Not a rainbow shirt or placard in this bunch.

The crowd of mostly young girls appeared to be thrilled at meeting Hamilton in person. Here are Hamilton and Gaines with their fans.

And the Dyers and their LGBTQ resistance?

It was at our Library Center here in Springfield that I led a small protest on. It was also a violation of the Library policy…

— Brittany (@prideforMO) February 3, 2024

It seems their small protest had an equally small impact. About as useful as pissing into the wind, but transgender men can't do that anymore either.

You can patch in to Brave Books on Facebook, X, or their website to find the next stop on the 2024 Story Hour Tour.