The Shepherd Union atrium has housed many events over the years including markets, fairs, cooking competitions and even protests. The afternoon of Nov. 20 was no exception. In light of Transgender Day of Remembrance, the Young Americans for Freedom organization decided to hold an anti-trans protest. In response to this, the College Democrats at Weber State University held a counter protest in support of transgender individuals.

The Young Americans for Freedom had a trifold presentation board containing all the information they hoped to share. Their table, though constantly surrounded by individuals, had significantly less participants than the College Democrats who protested directly next to them.

The College Democrats held up over a dozen multi-colored signs ranging in size and messages. Throughout the hour that both protests ran for, the College Democrats shouted chants that loudly echoed through the atrium, making it difficult for bystanders to hold side conversations.

The Young Americans for Freedom president, Jared Caldwell, chose to hold their protest on the Transgender Day of Remembrance because he thought it would be an impactful day to spread awareness of the dangers of being transgender.

The basis of their message was that transgenderism can be extremely harmful, and they used examples of individuals that had de-transitioned to amplify this notion.

On the reverse side, Tessie Violet, member of the College Democrats at Weber State and driving force behind the counter protest, found the choice of day to be incredibly distasteful.

Many of the individuals within the College Democrats know either firsthand or from someone close to them how harmful transphobia can be, and they chose to counter-protest in support of their transgender brothers and sisters.

The protest gained a lot of traction, summoning the eyes of almost 50 bystanders. The crowds of students and faculty watching the protest didn’t waiver throughout the entirety of the outcry of opinions. The bystanders lined the stairs and surrounding areas, many times warranting the interference of campus police to keep them from blocking the walkways.

Each group measured the success of their protest differently. Caldwell was pleased with the turnout and with the amount of individuals he got to speak with. However, Violet believes that they won’t be successful until the human rights of transgender individuals stops becoming a topic of debate.

Addendum: The article originally stated, “Many of the individuals within the College Democrats know either firsthand or from someone close to them how damaging transitioning can be, and they chose to counter-protest in support of their transgender brothers and sisters.” It now states “Many of the individuals within the College Democrats know either firsthand or from someone close to them how harmful transphobia can be, and they chose to counter-protest in support of their transgender brothers and sisters.”