Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire is bringing his critical documentary about transgender ideology to UA. Campus groups are worried his appearance will stir hate and set bad precedent.
The Crimson White first reported the SGA’s approval of $7,135 to be given to Young Americans for Freedom to support Walsh’s speaking event. Multiple senators spoke out, with some wanting to withhold budget approval overall and some wanting to strike Walsh from it outright.
“Matt Walsh is a problematic person,” Senator Tyler Tannehill told The Crimson White. “That’s an understatement.”
Tannehill continued, “He is someone who perpetuates hateful ideas that goes contrary to the Capstone values and what should be regarded as the pursuit of knowledge.”
“We need to reconsider the implications of what it says about our Student Government Association to allow an event and a speaker of this caliber to come and receive funding specifically from us,” said Senator Elizabeth Prophet during debate. Prophet is the mouthpiece for the ‘Delete Dixie’ campaign that launched early this month.
The Queer Student Association sent a representative to deliver a formal statement to the Senators.
“We see that the SGA has great potential in fostering diversity, equity and inclusion,” said the speaker. “Such funding will be contrary to that mission and will be a grave injustice to all transgender students at the Capstone.”
Wyatt Eichholz is president of UA’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter.
Eichholz explained that SGA allocates club funding for the explicit purpose of facilitating high-profile events like the ‘What is a Woman?’ tour.
“We are pleased to see the SGA provide funding to allow Alabama students the opportunity to hear from one of the leading conservative commentators on a subject of vital national importance,” Eichholz told Capstone Free Press. “Diversity of opinion should be the most valued form of diversity at a campus like UA, and I do applaud the SGA for its determination to uphold that value in this case.”
Thirteen of the 41 voting Senators chose to recommend striking the YAF funding from the budget.
Eichholz said he is disappointed in the resistance the legislation brought the Senate floor.
“Those opposing Walsh’s visit reveal once again that they stand against fundamental American values of free speech and open dialogue.”
SGA Director of LGBTQIA Affairs Andrew Sheridan told The Crimson White, “His [Walsh’s] documentary is meant to be a targeted attack on the trans community, and it is deeply disturbing that he has been invited to display his hateful messages at UA.”
“Arguing that biological males are men and biological females are women is not controversial in the slightest,” said Eichholz. “What should be controversial is trying to brainwash people into thinking up is down and right is left, which is exactly what is being done when one tries to say that ‘a woman is someone who identifies as a woman.’”
The ‘What is a Woman?’ tour at UA will begin with a screening of the documentary followed by a live Q&A session with Matt Walsh. For more information, contact YAF leadership or visit UA YAF’s social media sites.
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Allen.
