Pitt’s College Republicans, sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, has found a new participant to debate conservative political commentator Michael Knowles. They’ve also changed the topic of the on-campus debate.
Deirdre McCloskey has dropped out of a debate at Pitt against political commentator Michael Knowles on “transgenderism and womanhood,” set for next Tuesday. She said Knowles is “hate-mongering” and “uninterested in finding the truth.”
Deirdre McCloskey is set to debate “transgenderism and womanhood” with Michael Knowles in the coming weeks. She said it will likely be a “silly debate” but thinks it’s important to speak against Knowles’ desire for the government to intervene in family decisions, including those that involve the transitioning and protection of transgender children.
About 200 students protested at the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard Monday afternoon, chanting “hate speech isn’t free, it costs lives” and carrying signs with phrases such as “save trans lives.”
La’Tasha Mayes, a Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, discussed student activism and “anti-trans” events on Friday in honor of the 50th anniversary of both Pitt’s Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Department and Rainbow Alliance.