Story by Baleigh Davis and Bethany McWilliams
Holding handmade signs crafted the night before, a group of students sat in silent protest during Turning Point USA’s screening of “Identity Crisis,” as others stood in the Jenkins hallway. The signs had various messages in support of transgender and LGBTQ rights.
Photo by Victoria Olivares. Student protestors organized a silent demonstration for the viewing of “Identity Crisis.” Those participating held up their signs for the duration of the event.
“It started in the dorm room at midnight,” Student Dove Barnes said. “I said, ‘we need to turn this into like a proper demonstration,’ and we started texting everyone we knew.”
The documentary, according to IMDB.com, “dives into one of the most polarizing debates of our time: the rise of gender ideology and its impact on children.” The event was held March 25.
Turning Point USA is a national organization with many chapters across the country. According to their mission statement from tpusa.com, the goal of TPUSA is to educate the students on “the importance of freedom, free markets, limited government, and limited taxation.” The national organization partnered with The Daily Wire to produce the documentary. The Daily Wire’s “About” page states that they are “one of America’s fastest-growing media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment,” and “does not claim to be without bias.”
Amanda Jo Ratcliff, TJC speech professor and adviser for TPUSA, encouraged attendance and open conversation about the film.
Photo by Victoria Olivares. “Identity Crisis” was produced by The Daily Wire and the National TPUSA organization.
“College is a place where people need to grapple with ideas and have a free and open exchange of ideas,” Ratcliff said. “The marketplace of ideas is so important, and to be able to hear things that we don’t like and to investigate perspectives that we may not agree with is so important to the learning process and to our own development.”
TJC previously had an organization called Pride of TJC that served as a space for LGBTQ students to connect but it is not currently an active campus organization.
“We want to maybe start a new one [pride club] soon, focusing on student activism and building relationships with the queer community across Tyler,” Barnes said.
In recent years, the topic of transgender rights has become one of contention in political conversations. The synopsis of the film on The Daily Wire website states that “Identity Crisis” is inspired in part by the documentary “What is a Woman?” by Matt Walsh, and includes personal accounts from activists, parents and detransitioners.
A student attending the movie shared his motivation to protest.
“I myself, am transmasculine, and I really have been needing to get out and start using my voice for these kinds of things,” Morrow Burnett said. “And especially in this age where being trans is an extremely political issue, I just really need to use my voice to step out and start spreading real information about being trans and the trans experience.”
The event was open to all students with a TJC ID. Freshman Cameron Hamer, an attendee not associated with the club or protest, found the club’s screening insightful.
Image courtesy of dailywire.com.
“It definitely sheds light on something that’s going on culturally amongst, you know, us as people our age, [and] even people younger than us. I mean, really, this isn’t anything new, as the documentary has pointed out,” Hamer said. “You can do whatever you want with your life past a certain point, right? And I think the biggest thing that pointed out, that spoke to me, is affecting children. So that’s just not OK in my beliefs.”
Ratcliff said the screening was not interrupted by the protest.
“As someone who believes in the United States Constitution and the First Amendment, I realized the importance of the freedom to protest, and so I have no problems with that, and they were respectful and quiet and didn’t cause any disruptions,” Ratcliff said. “Everybody is welcome to all Turning Point events, and we’re glad that everybody came.”
When approached after the screening, other members of TPUSA declined to comment about the event’s outcome.