On November 11th, The University of Iowa’s chapter of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) hosted YouTuber, political commentator, and contributor to the Daily Wire, Michael Knowles. The YAF is a conservative youth organization with over 2000 chapters around the nation. The group seeks to promote conservative and traditional values and receives funding from the likes of climate change denier and game show host Pat Sajak, billionaire marketer Richard DeVoss, along with many others.
Knowles has become a controversial figure for his actions and political views, which includes public opposition of gay marriage, his belief that transgender people’s existence is a delusion that must be eradicated, and arguing colonization and expansion of the American Empire as something justified and noble. Knowles gave a speech in the Iowa Memorial Union entitled, “We are so Back: How the Libs Lost Everything”.
The IMU functions within the university as being the center of campus life, with them describing it as, “Often the place where the university makes its first impression on potential students, faculty, and staff.” One of the five core values stated of the IMU is inclusion, “Affirming and celebrating all backgrounds and personal identities through inclusive and equitable policies, programs, services, and spaces.”
University of Iowa students, staff, and Iowa City community members gathered outside the IMU to protest Michael Knowles speech taking place within the building. For many of the protesters this was another episode in a long series of right wing influencers hosted and sponsored on university grounds. The election, the war in Gaza, and the general assault on LGBT rights has brought the student body’s divisions to the forefront and forced the university to question what does it mean to be tolerant.
“It seems to be a pretty big event, and it seems a little questionable to me,” said a protester present at the speech, “you know, hosting a homophobic, transphobic person at a university which like has policies ostensibly protecting gay and trans people.”
Another protester stated, “I think that inviting him and giving him this much of a platform 一 I think there is a difference than if he just came into the park and like, put some stuff up. But he’s being hosted in a university building with two policemen in the lobby providing protection. They clearly have this organized as a major event inside the IMU. It’s kind of what the entire building seems to be centered around right now, which is a bit, not just inviting, but explicitly platforming, and I think that’s like a fallacy of equality.”
Those in attendance made efforts to affirm individual identities and made a point of stressing how the speakers’ and university’s actions have affected the mental health and sense of safety on campus for queer students. “The falling on free speech thing doesn’t really carry water anymore, because the last time they invited Matt Walsh or whatnot, there was conflict. It seems like they’re just spending more and more money on this extra police. So yeah, they’re 100% at fault,” one student commented on the university’s involvement, “I understand free speech but that dude can get that on the Daily Wire so that’s his free speech, but he need not come here. I understand why the YAF brought him here, but take him to some other venue because this is state sponsored. So, how are you going to feel safe in this school? Because it feels like, to our trans community, it feels like they hate me, and at best they’re indifferent to our voice.”
The overall well-being of transgender students was also a major concern of protestors, especially in light of the recent presidential election. As one protestor said, “Our trans sisters and brothers are scared right now, and this is like throwing fuel on the fire. We want to meet the fascists at the gate and let them know that we don’t give a shit about your president. We’re here to take care of our people.”
The two groups were sandwiched in between a 24-hour fundraising event for the University of Iowa’s largest student organization, Dance Marathon, which added to the crowds. Many of the passersby approached by KRUI had no knowledge of the YAF’s event and were simply trying to use the building to attend the Dance Marathon fundraiser or were there for academic purposes.
However, a few onlookers contributed their opinion of the event. Many of them viewed the protest in a positive light, with one saying, “I think they’ve done a really good job organizing, and I know there’s a lot of different voices on campus, so it’s nice that people on more of the progressive side can have their voice heard and the conservatives can be inside and listen to a speaker. It’s awesome. It should double in size.”
Protestors were especially on edge given the large police presence inside and outside the IMU as on October 7th of 2023, peaceful protestors were arrested after demonstrating against a different anti-trans speaker at the IMU. They were charged with either disorderly conduct or interference with official acts. Those protestors were detained a month later in November of 2023. None of the participants were arrested at the protest and no property was damaged, but according to those present, Johnson County police officers reportedly pushed, grabbed, and behaved aggressively towards them.
Through this process, protestors learned that the UIPD and Johnson County Sherriff’s Office have both been involved in monitoring protests. UIPD has installed cameras that pan, tilt, and zoom around campus. This is along with monitoring social media accounts, searching specific terms leading up to events on platforms, and analyzing search results based on posts’ geolocation. It has been reported that UIPD tracks protestors based on their face, build, clothing, walk, temporary injuries, and their cars as they are leaving protests. That is why during the November 11th protest, a majority of protestors wore nondescript clothing, face masks, said to put their phones into airplane mode, and parked away from the IMU. It was also requested that no photos be taken that could identify protestors based on their faces.
Along with these precautions, many protestors were weary of stepping away from the corner section of the IMU due to the arrests last year that came from people blocking the intersection of Jefferson and Madison. This comes after the Iowa state government passed the “Back the Blue” law in 2021 which strengthened qualified immunity for police officers, banned common protest tactics like obstructing a street, and increased penalties for other protest actions. UIPD officers also came out to the crowd of protestors handing out “Free Speech at Iowa” cards that labeled what things protestors could and could not do.
Inside the IMU, Michael Knowles’ talk focused mainly on the criticism of transgender people and progressivism in western society. His traditional views on gender were on full display stating that women should grow out their hair so that their pronouns and identity are apparent. He also said that, “The transgender issue is not chiefly about women’s sports. We want that too, it’s a matter of justice. But most people don’t actually care that much about women’s sports. The trans issue is not even chiefly about protecting children, it is about the liberal elite trying to castrate little kids.”
After Knowles’ talk was over, KRUI staffers asked individuals what they thought of the event. One pair of event attendees said, “We’re both independent voters so we went and checked out the event inside and it was kind of what you would expect for something like this. All he was saying was kind of recycled talking points.”
Another attendee said, “I thought he was great, I thought he had good opinions. I don’t necessarily attend the University of Iowa but I’m not planning on it either, especially because of the kind of liberal ideologies that are here. I appreciated him coming out and sharing his opinion. I mean, that’s what press is about, it’s about people being able to share their opinions openly and not get demeaned for doing so.”
Debates around DEI, trans rights, and the general paradox of tolerance will likely continue to unfold on campus as the university juggles the safety and interests of its students, while attempting to maneuver and adapt to legislation that’s increasingly antagonistic towards academia’s discretion. “I think that there is a general pattern of ‘if you are tolerant, you have to tolerate me being hateful’,” said one demonstrator attending the protest, “that’s kind of what the university seems to have gone with with hosting these kinds of people, and it’s philosophical nonsense.”
This article was written with aid from Amanda Moy, Julia Wilson, and Claire Peery.
