Outrage from Pitt students, members of trans community over events scheduled at university
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A series of scheduled events at the University of Pittsburgh are sparking backlash.
The three events are scheduled to happen between March and April and feature anti-trans discussions and guest speakers.
According to a petition against these speaking engagements, they are being hosted by conservative student groups and clubs on campus with topics reportedly ranging from trans women in sports to a debate over trans identity.
Among the controversial political commentators who have been invited to speak on campus over the next several weeks is Michael Knowles, who made recent headlines for reportedly saying during a speech that "transgenderism" needed to be "eradicated."
Nicholas Demjan, a senior at Pitt, is the person who started the petition to block these events from taking place. Within three days, it gained as many as 5,000 signatures.
Demjan told KDKA-TV, "I'm not even asking them to create a new policy or anything. I want the university to stick by the plethora of diversity and inclusion statements they have on their website."
Leaders in the Pittsburgh trans community are speaking out, too.
"They are just saying all of this hateful rhetoric so they can social climb. And while they are social climbing, it's killing us. We're literally being murdered just for existing," said Dena Stanley, executive director of Trans Uniting.
Dylan Drobish, Mr. Trans USA and a Pitt alumni, told KDKA-TV, "You are fostering this sense of disgust that will directly result in people getting killed. Why would that university ever be OK with that?"
While the university itself did not invite these speakers, the events are happening on its campus, which is why Stanley, Drobish, Demjan and others believe the university should cancel the events.
They are also concerned that the discussions being held there could elicit hate speech and violence. These anti-trans events are scheduled as the ACLU has been tracking about 400 anti-trans bills across the U.S.
KDKA-TV reached out to Pitt for comment and to see if there are any plans to cancel the controversial events. Below is the full statement from a university spokesperson:
"The University of Pittsburgh is committed to cultivating an environment of mutual respect, concern for others, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. These core values are the bedrock of our community and are reflected in our Pitt Promise. As a public university, we also uphold the principles of protected speech and expression and acknowledge that legally protected speech and expression can at times offend and marginalize some members of our community and contradict unwavering university values. As an academic community, we encourage intellectual critique of and peaceful dissent from opposing viewpoints, counter speech, and disengagement from experiences that do not support personal well-being.
"The events in question are hosted by registered independent student organizations—not the University of Pittsburgh. Registered student organizations are permitted to invite outside speakers of their choosing to campus if they follow University guidelines and the law. Student organization use of Pitt property is not an institutional endorsement of the event or the speaker's expressed viewpoint.
"Some members of our community have expressed concerns about Michael Knowles' viewpoints, including Knowles' recent statements about transgender people. The University affirms its deep commitment to and support of all Pitt community members including our trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming community members."