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A Turning Point USA event at the University of Washington criticizing gender transitioning was canceled due to mounting pressure from left-wing activist groups planning a major demonstration, as well as some threats of violence against the conservative hosts.
The May 13 speech at the UW-Seattle campus was set to feature Chloe Cole, who began gender transitioning at 12 but later detransitioned at 17. She is now a leading advocate for protecting children from irreversible medical procedures.
The planned event prompted student and community groups to assemble plans to protest and disrupt Cole’s speech.
Most significantly, the UW Divestment Campaign, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Seattle Palestine Action Network called on the school to “cancel all Turning Point USA events,” revoke its club status, ban future events, and denounce the group’s alleged hate and “stand in solidarity with trans students and workers.”
The groups called on supporters to “bring flags, drums, or anything to make noise!”
“Email UW admin to cancel the event and ban Turning Point USA from campus,” the post stated. “WE WILL NOT TOLERATE HATE GROUPS ON CAMPUS! WE LOVE OUR TRANS SIBLINGS! 🏳️⚧️ FREE PALESTINE!”
The groups’ shared social media post also called TPUSA’s assassinated founder Charlie Kirk a “rightwing Nazi Trump supporter” and Cole “a transphobic grifter.”
The TPUSA chapter at the University of Washington released a statement Wednesday announcing the decision to cancel today’s event and postpone it for a later time.
TPUSA’s statement referenced a recent incident in which a transgender University of Washington student was found murdered Sunday near campus. The group condemned the murder “in the strongest possible terms.”
However, the group added, in “light of this tragedy and by an overwhelming surge of violent threats directed at our chapter, threats that appear deliberately designed to falsely associate our peaceful event with the murder, we have made the difficult decision to postpone our upcoming event with Chloe Cole.”
TPUSA said it is “not leaving campus” and will “remain fully committed to promoting free speech, open dialogue, and intellectual diversity at the University of Washington.”
“We look forward to rescheduling this important conversation at the earliest appropriate time.”
In addition, Cole posted a video responding to the decision, saying “Antifa has assembled a local militia…to shut down this event.” She also cited “explicit threats on my life.”
The death threats and projected size of the protest were large enough to overwhelm the local police department and her own private security, creating a life-threatening environment, Cole said in her video.
She would have been willing to risk the speech before Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but is no longer willing to do so, she added.
“There is a difference between being brave and being stupid,” she said.
UW spokesman Victor Balta told The College Fix it was TPUSA’s decision to cancel the event.
“The UW develops security plans for permitted events on a case-by-case basis, including the TPUSA event featuring Nick Freitas just last week that was held without incident or interruption, and was planning accordingly for the event that was scheduled for today,” he said via email.
Last week’s Nick Freitas appearance spurred a noisy protest that resulted in 1 arrest.
When questioned about the trend of anti-conservative protests at the University of Washington campus, Balta said “it is clear to most people who are paying attention that politics and discourse are remarkably polarized at the moment. Protesters with opposing views tend to show up when speakers or rallies with which they disagree are held, and that has not been unique to conservative events.”
However, the University of Washington has experienced several prominent examples of left-wing cancel culture incidents, including an event featuring Riley Gaines during which protesters reportedly harassed and threw feces at attendees, and a riot which occupied and set fire to school property, resulting in over 30 arrests and $1 million in damages.
Cole expressed in her video she is not shaken by the situation since “truth will always win” and “Christ will always prevail.”
MORE: Protesters try to drown out Turning Point event at U. Washington; 1 arrested
