Penn State student group hosted self-defense class for trans-identifying people and women to 'Fight back against sexist violence'
A Pennslyvania State student group hosted a self-defense class for “Trans folks, Queer folks, and Women” in November. The event was called “Fight Back Against Sexist Violence.”
A Pennslyvania State student group hosted a self-defense class for “Trans folks, Queer folks, and Women” in November. The event was called “Fight Back Against Sexist Violence.”
“At Penn State and across the US, we continue to see bigots emboldened towards antisocial violence,” the Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity said in an Instagram post. “We must stand together and develop the capacity to fight back and defend each other. Bring your friends with you to the skillshare, learn some basics of self-defense, and get connected to the SCDS Community Defense Working Group.”
The post says that the class is “trans led.”
Following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, the Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity released a statement, calling on students to protest, and praising Black Lives Matter.
“Just like in 2016, people will rise in opposition to Trump and generate and develop a revolutionary movement,” the group said in an Instagram post. “The years-long Black Lives Matter and Palestine Solidarity Movement mobilizations are a precursor to the coming period of popular struggle against Trump and the rest of the imperialist state he leads.”
The group noted hat it and others like it have been working on “sharpening a theory on how to conquer political power.”
“As Trump reenters the White House, and the people prepare for struggle, let us remember that everything has been won through struggle,” the post continues.
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A few weeks before the election, SCDS co-announced an anti-Trump rally against the Ku Klux Klan, fascists, and white supremacists. The protest took place during Trump’s visit to Penn State. “Workers and students must unite to take a stand against white suprem*cy, queerphobia, and z*onism that Trump seeks to unleash on State College with his visit on Saturday,” the announcement said.
In September, the student group organized a protest against Charlie Kirk for being a “racist transphobe.”
The group demanded that “the Penn State Administration deny Turning Point USA permission to platform Charlie Kirk with a tabling event” and “substantial policy changes be made to relevant university policies in order to prevent far-right extremist organizers like Kirk from coming to our campus to be platformed in public spaces.”
In response to a Campus Reform request for comment, a Pennsylvania State spokesman said “This group is not affiliated with Penn State.”
