Salt Lake City, UT – Despite freezing temperatures and attempts at stifling the student movement, dozens of students and supporters gathered outside of the University of Utah’s Language and Communications building on November 30 to take a stand against a presentation by anti-transgender advocate Chloe Cole. 19-year-old Cole claims that she underwent female-to-male gender affirmation surgery at age 15, detransitioned at age 16 and says that this caused her “lifelong, irreversible harm.”

The protest was put on by Students for a Democratic Society in response to the presentation organized by Young Americans for Freedom, a right-wing student organization with ties to Turning Point USA. The entrance was guarded by at least ten police officers, with several more waiting inside the building, and only allowed people in who were registered for the event.

“The current anti-trans movement is not about protecting women or children. The right’s current fixation with attacking and exterminating the LGBTQ community is a scapegoat to distract the public from what's actually going on around us,” said Students for a Democratic Society organizer Adrian Romero.

Ermiya Fanaeian, an organizer with the Armed Queers of Salt Lake, stated, “The struggle for queer and trans liberation is far from over, and it is a struggle that cannot be stopped by the state, it cannot be stopped by the university administration, and it certainly cannot be stopped by right-wing events and organizations. Today, we fight for trans rights, so that tomorrow we stand in our trans power!”

Despite the cold weather and air pollution, students fiercely shouted chants such as, “Trans healthcare is here to stay! Chloe Cole, go away!” and “U of U, let’s be clear! Hate speech is not welcome here!” They also shouted these chants at the events’ attendees as they exited the building.

During the event, a genderqueer student protester was isolated by officers, who demanded to see the person’s ID, and was charged in connection with a counterprotest which had taken place a few weeks before. University of Utah SDS has reached out to the individual to offer support in battling the charges.

#SaltLakeCityUT #LGBTQ #Trans #ArmedQueersSLC

Salt Lake City, UT – On October 23, members of the Salt Lake City community filled a room on the University of Utah campus for a panel against the repression of progressive speech on campus. Chrisley Carpio of the Tampa 5 was the keynote presenter and was joined by MECHA at the University of Utah and Armed Queers SLC.

The Tampa 5 are five members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society who were arrested for protesting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s racist attacks on education in that state. They face felony charges from right-wing District Attorney Susan Lopez for the protest. MECHA and Armed Queers SLC joined the panel in solidarity because of the University of Utah’s attempt to shut down a joint event on LGBTQ peoples’ right to self-defense.

Carpio led the crowd in a chant of “Racist, sexist, anti-gay! Ron DeSantis go away!” She said, “We are not sorry, and we are not backing down. We are going to fight these unjust charges because the people of this country oppose Ron DeSantis’s racist, sexist, homophobic agenda!”

Gabriela Merida, the education secretary for MECHA, condemned the university’s attempted repression, saying, “We know this type of repression is not happening to any other org on campus. It is only because we have decided to speak out against the university’s complacency and complicity in the oppression of the LGBTQ+ community and Palestinian and Arab community in the world.”

Ermia Fanaeian of Armed Queers SLC agreed, saying, “The struggle against the repression that left movements face is very real, and growing all over the country. We must recognize that the forces who are holding political prisoners and Palestinian activists are also in charge of pacifying student groups on campus, such as the Tampa 5.”

Organizers from Utah Students for a Democratic Society facilitated questions and answers from the crowd, which raised over $300 for the Tampa 5’s defense fund.

#SaltLakeCityUT #PoliticalRepression #Tampa5 #StudentMovement #MECHA #ArmedQueersSLC