Berklee College of Music cancels event about 'detransioning' after flood of hateful comments, threats from pro-trans activists
‘The determination and the willingness of these people to go out of their way to essentially harass, bully, and slander me is really remarkable and does not make me feel safe on campus,’ the event organizer said.
Price was threatened online and harassed, being urged to kill himself because of his advocacy work.
A college in Boston canceled an event that was meant to discuss the question: “[W]hat happens when you realize you were wrong about being trans?” after facing a massive backlash from pro-transgenderism activists.
The event, “Born in the Right Body: desister and detransitioner awareness,” was originally scheduled for Oct. 20 at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It was set to be hosted by Simon Amaya Price.
Addressing Price’s bio, the event description reads: “Once identified as trans, now is committed to advocating for social, legal, and medical change, to prevent ongoing medical malpractice in the treatment of gender dysphoria. He believes that kids with gender dysphoria have enough to deal with without being enabled by therapists, teachers, guidance counselors, and doctors to make uninformed life-altering medical decisions.”
Price is a “desister,” which is “someone who previously identified as transgender but who re-identified with their biological sex prior to any medical intervention,” according to the Clinical Advisory Network on Sex and Gender. He said his event was meant to “raise awareness about” both desisters and detransitioners.
After Price advertised his event, he received hundreds of comments on social media harassing him, threatening him with violence, and urging him to commit suicide, according to The Daily Signal.
“The determination and the willingness of these people to go out of their way to essentially harass, bully, and slander me is really remarkable and does not make me feel safe on campus,” he said.
Berklee Vice President Ron Savage initially recommended that the event be delayed due to security concerns before “indefinitely postponing” it, something that Price called “a violation of my academic freedom,” reported The Daily Signal.
[RELATED: Detransitioner says her medical ethics prof told her to look at pro-trans materials ‘with an open mind’]
Price’s event cancellation is not the first time that pro-transgenderism advocates shut down an event.
On Nov. 1, 2023, protesters at the University of Utah interrupted a viewing of the Daily Caller documentary “Damaged: The Transing of America’s Kids,” which “tells the story of the lives of transgender people who wish they could go back.” The protesters’ disruption led to the premature cancellation of the event.
Campus Reform has reached out to the Berklee College of Music for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
