Several recent protests highlight a growing trend on college campuses to reject conservative ideas and speakers. In particular, a number of activists supporting transgender rights have used threats of violence or shouting to cancel conservative speakers.
One of the most recent events took place at the University of Washington. In this scene, a student flipped the table of the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) club on campus.
The student said that the conservative group was supporting “the genocide of trans kids.” The student then called the group an obscenity prior to flipping the table and scattering the materials on it.
The student then used obscenities again and began shouting after TPUSA members said that they would call campus security.
The event is the latest in a number of concerns about the suppression of free speech and violence within the transgender community.
Earlier this month, a TPUSA meeting including swimmer Riley Gaines was interrupted by protesters that forced Gaines to barricade in a room on San Francisco State University’s campus for safety. She was ambushed by students and struck by them in the melee.
At the University of Albany, in New York, another TPUSA event was effectively canceled by shouting students.
Writer and podcaster Ian Haworth was invited to campus by the local chapter of TPUSA. Haworth has stated that he supports traditional biology and opposes gender changes for children.
However, students hung posters and spread a social media message to “drown out transphobia.”
Students arrived at the meeting and shouted obscenities at the club members and Haworth. Every time the local chapter’s president attempted to speak, he was shouted down by the mob. The school’s administration also did not step in to stop the disruption of the event.
🧵 Last night, I was at the University of Albany to speak with @TPUSA.
My argument: free speech is being destroyed on college campuses.
And like clockwork, some deranged protesters showed up and used the heckler's veto to try and shut down the event. pic.twitter.com/NZdUgh2emm
— Ian Haworth (@ighaworth) April 5, 2023
Last October, Haworth was also shouted at by students at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
This followed a scene at the same college in September when conservative pundit Tomi Lahren attempted to speak. The crowd attempted to break into the room while it was being protected by police.
