Protesters halt detransitioner documentary screening at University of Utah

Earlier this month, left-wing activists successfully shut down a conservative group’s screening of a documentary intended to showcase the harmful effects of “transgender” care.

On Nov. 1, protestors were escorted out of the University of Utah’s Marriott Library after disrupting the playing of The Daily Caller’s Damaged: The Transing of America’s Kids.

[RELATED: Whistleblower claims malpractice at university’s Transgender Center]

“Hey, hey, go home, transphobia has got to go,” demonstrators shouted in videos of the protest obtained by The Daily Caller. 

Hosted by Utah’s Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter, the screening was supposed to highlight the testimonies of “detransitioners” who regret having undergone “gender reassignment” surgeries.

Utah YAF Vice Chairman Everett Lopez told The Daily Caller that the protestors were initially calm when YAF introduced the film, but the moment the movie started, the uproar followed. 

“We tried, you know, fighting through so we shut the lights off, put subtitles on. Since we’re so small, we all go to the front and try to watch it,” he said. “Thankfully campus police gave it five minutes and they started escorting everybody out, anybody who wasn’t supporting the event.”

“The event was canceled following the protest out of an abundance of caution. University police officers also escorted attendees of the film screening safely from the building,” according to a statement from the university obtained by The Daily Caller.

Campus Reform spoke to a student who was encouraged to embrace a transgender identity as a child. The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, detransitioned after realizing that transitioning didn’t provide the escape she was hoping for. 

When asked how transitioning impacted her long-term, the student said that it completely broke her. 

“I’m starting to come to terms with the thought that maybe God meant for this to happen,” she told Campus Reform. “Still, I wish it hadn’t had this much collateral damage.”

According to the student, she often misses the “happy girl” that she was before this process. 

When asked why the transgender lobby is so aggressive to silence detransitioners, the student said it is part of the agenda to “groom children.”

“I think that silencing the voices of detransitioners just makes it easier for the trans lobby to groom children, because detransitioners show just how horrific this grooming is,” she told Campus Reform.

“I had never even heard of detransitioners before a few years after I desisted from identifying as trans. If somebody had been there to say ‘hey, this is what the trans lobby did to me, this is what they took from me,’ I might not have ever adopted a trans identity,” she added.

[RELATED: Texas students protest in favor of ‘sex change’ operations for minors] 

In March 2022, Campus Reform interviewed Angus Fox to talk about higher education’s responsibility to increase awareness of the ramifications of “transitioning.” Fox is a manager at Genspec, an organization that offers support to youth who identify as transgender.

“We hope that colleges will understand that young people are still developing their identities up to the age of 25, and even beyond this age,” Fox said. 

Genspec provides resources like a “Brief guidance” page and a “Beyond Trans” program.

Campus Reform reached out to the University of Utah, YAF, and The Daily Caller for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.