Luke Larsen
'Detransitioner' activist Chloe Cole addresses Salt Lake City residents and University of Utah students in the Languages and Communication building at the University of Utah on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. (Photo by Luke Larsen | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
On Thursday, Chloe Cole, a well-known conservative activist, spoke about her “detransition” story at the University of Utah. An estimated 50 people attended the event, put on by Young Americans for Freedom.
Surrounding the building were approximately 60 security guards and police officers monitoring student protestors outside of the event.
“We must keep fighting to rid the country of this practice of manipulating, utilizing, mutilating and sterilizing children,” Cole said. “We must address how to otherwise care for these kids who are struggling with pain and trauma.”
Cole, a 19-year-old from California, began transitioning from female to male at 12 years old, and is currently in the process of transitioning back to female.
“My experience going through transitioning back has been an incredibly painful one,” she said. “But it’s also been a valuable learning experience for me.”
Cole said her transition was brought on by her “tomboy” interests, and alleged that doctors “lied” to her and her parents about her being transgender.
“They were emotionally manipulated and thinking that this was life or death for their child,” she said. “The doctors told them that they had two choices for me — transition or suicide.”
Cole also supported the Utah State’s passing of S.B. 16, a bill that banned all access to gender-affirming care for Utah minors in 2022. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Cole spoke to lawmakers at a hearing regarding the bill in January.
“My childhood was destroyed for the sake of medical experimentation,” she told them.
According to the Tribune, about 1,400 Utahs between the age of 13 and 17 identify as transgender, equating to roughly 0.5% of Utah’s population in that age group.
However, Cole said that laws are not enough to hold “irresponsible adults” accountable for situations similar to hers.
“We live in a world that is broken,” she said. “That pushes hurt souls further into a living grave, convinces young people that the way that they’re born is defective, that they must be fixed.”
Jordan Langford, an attendee of the event, asked why Cole’s story should be used against the 99% of people who want to transition.
“We don’t know how many were ready [to transition],” Cole responded, adding she doesn’t think there are any solid studies on the matter.
According to the Associated Press, an average of 1% of people who had transgender surgeries expressed regret in the U.S., Canada and Europe across 27 studies.
Also in attendance was Monica Wilbur, a Utah mom who gained notoriety for protesting mask mandates in schools. She said children seem to be “incentivized” to identify as nonbinary, and questioned if this is taught in the classroom.
During Cole’s event, protestors stood outside with surrounding security. Protestors made signs and shouted, “YAF has got to go!” Protestors did not enter the building where the event was held.
Utah Students for a Democratic Society hosted the protest. Kailah Figueroa, a member of SDS, attended the protest.
“We want to support trans people here on campus, and the right to exist without being harassed with things happening like the Chloe Cole event,” she said.
Editor’s note, Dec 1, 11:22 a.m. • This story was updated to clarify that Utah Students for a Democratic Society hosted the protest, not the student group Mecha de U of U.
l.hanson@dailyutahchronicle.com
@LibbeyHNews
