As the president of Turning Point USA at SRU, I feel it is necessary to report my side of the Chloe Cole event and the lead-up to her speaking on campus Oct. 16.
Cole tours the country (and recently spoke at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland) to talk about her personal experience with gender transition and detransition, a topic that is not often acknowledged in our society.
She blames doctors for failing to provide complete information about potential risks and for presenting her family with a false dilemma, asking, “Would you rather have a living son or a dead daughter?” Miss Cole never considered suicide prior to her transition as an ultimatum. She said this type of argument gave her parents no choice but to agree to her gender transition at age 12.
Instead of solving her problems, however, Cole, now 21, said the medical establishment didn’t prepare her for what was to come. Nor were they honest that despite drugs and surgeries, she could never “be a boy.”
The university administration has been kind and, for the most part, respectful towards our chapter here at SRU, and has been extremely helpful in getting our events to run smoothly. So for that, I am thankful.
But once the Chloe Cole event was advertised, something changed on campus.
While the administrators have still been kind and helpful, it is the students who have changed.
Our group has received threats, hate comments and harassment from students on campus.
In the lead-up to this event, our chapter got threats on Yik Yak and Fizz saying things like, “TPUSA don’t show up today” with three skulls after the text.
Our items were vandalized at our promotion table. Someone came and stole one of our signs, then broke it in half.
For the first time, we had a protest held against one of our events, which we welcome, and which students have the right to do. And I am glad they are expressing their opinion.
However, I wish these students who protested, telling everyone that “TPUSA is spreading hate speech,” would have come in to hear what the opposition had to say. They would have discovered that Cole was not using hate speech, but they didn’t bother to listen.
Turning Point USA at SRU is here to try to bring the two sides of the political aisle closer together through dialogue. Our chapter would never bring someone to campus if we thought they were going to spread hate speech.
Being involved with TPUSA for the past three years, I want people to listen to their fellow students and not shut them out for thinking differently. Thinking differently is one reason the United States of America is the greatest nation in the world. Being free to think and not having one opinion forced onto you gives us more power as citizens.
I encourage all of you to stop and have a conversation with those you disagree with. It sounds easy, but I know so many people who won’t do it because they are afraid of being proven wrong.
