A university of Oregon will provide pro-LGBTQ students cotton candy and coloring in a space of their own, to promote transgender identity and gender-nonconformity, in response to bills in state legislatures elsewhere in America that would protect female-only spaces.
A letter from Portland State University President Stephen Percy laments the spread of “anti-trans bills in legislatures across the country” and promises to provide a “safe space for all members of the LGBTQAI+ community.” The letter also seems to be precipitated by a recent visit to campus by free-speech activists and activists critical of gender ideology who object to giving children puberty blockers and double mastectomies
PSU will feature “Trans and Gender Expansive Celebration and Community Hour” every day over a one-week period from noon to 1 p.m. in its Queer Resource Center. The celebration will provide cotton candy, tattoos, and coloring, according to the president’s letter.
PSAU will also feature “T-Time” trans social spaces on Fridays and a Sexual and Gender Minority Youth Resource Center, which is characterized as a “safe, harassment-free space for queer and trans youth ages 13-23.”
Portland State University President Stephen Percy indicates there will be no criticism of trans ideology allowed on campus.
Instead, “cotton candy, temporary tattoos, and coloring will be available” and expanded “Trans Days of Resistance” scheduled. pic.twitter.com/EmTGIWWbF3
— Michael Weingrad (@weingradmichael) April 29, 2023
The President’s communication was criticized by some past and present PSU community members, such as former Portland State University Professor Peter Boghossian, who was a campus dissident before being effectively driven out of his job as a professor by campus leftists who harassed him with impunity.
Boghossian was on the grounds of PSU on May 3 to discuss the subject of whether kids can truly consent to puberty blockers, given their life-altering consequences (such as lost bone density, according to the New York Times, and inability to ever orgasm if taken starting in prepubescence).
“Student activists at @Portland_State attempted to disrupt our public conversations today. I am genuinely embarrassed for the activists and disappointed that they prevented students with sincere objections from engaging us,” Boghossian said.
The Queer Resource Center responded to free-speech activists by declaring that the “intention of these provocateurs is not to invite productive dialogue.”
“Their tactic is to provoke students, faculty, and staff – record it and turn our community into clickbait material to be consumed by other folks with anti-Trans stances. These folks are trained to stay calm and within their rights to share their opinions on public property under the First Amendment. Legally, we cannot stop them. But we can ignore them and not give them what they want: a reaction from us and further polarization.”
