Detransitioned Chloe Cole shares transgender journey as protesters, police clash on UI campus

Hundreds of protesters packed the streets near the Iowa Memorial Union Monday evening, halting traffic as Chloe Cole, a “detransitioned” 19-year-old whose visit and advocacy drew ire from LGBTQ+ campus groups, spoke and took questions from students and community members.

Cole shared her journey at the IMU's Black Box Theatre, from a decision to transition at age 12 to de-transitioning a few years later. She also spoke of her efforts to keep minors from transitioning across the country.

Cole spoke in front of capacity crowd

Cole was welcomed by a standing ovation from the roughly 150-person crowd, sharing her seven-year journey, which began as a “tomboy chic" and ended as a detransitioned female.

She recalled being bullied and never feeling like she fit in as a female, yearning to be included in a community.

Cole said medical professionals were of little help and emotionally manipulated her parents, who were told they would either “have a suicidal daughter or a transgender son,” according to Cole.

She underwent a double mastectomy at 15, removing both her breasts. She said the scars still visible today are “reminders of what was supposed to be.”

Eventually, she no longer wanted to complete the transition, which led to taking testosterone. The sudden change of mind led to a major depressive disorder, feeling stuck and unable to de-transition.

"My mom and dad, they felt incredible guilt," she said. "They felt like this is all in their hands. But frankly, I don't blame them, even if they signed off on the treatments, because they were told that there was no other choice by our doctors."

Cole worried about what her future would look like if she continued with the gender reassignment.

“I just had this epiphany that I had maternal instincts,” Cole said. “I wanted to have children of my own, to be a mother to be a wife, and that by [transitioning], I was losing more parts of myself as an adult while I was still a child, and it was heartbreaking.”

Cole has since filed a lawsuit against those in her medical team, including the surgeon who performed her double mastectomy, the gender specialist who recommended that she transition and the endocrinologist who began the hormone-blocking process.

"I wanted to discourage any other doctor or any adult who feels like they can abuse a child in this way," Cole said.

More: Chloe Cole address on 'dangers of radical gender ideology' sparks opposition at UI

Cole challenged on her assertion that she is not transphobic

Cole opened her remarks on Monday night by acknowledging some of the chalk messages on the sidewalk outside of the IMU, including one that read "Trans people are cool humans," agreeing with the sentiment and saying, "I think we should all be cool humans." Cole continued to emphasize that she is not transphobic or against the existence of transgender people during her hour-long speech and Q&A session.

"I do not hate transgender people," Cole said. "Going through the transition process myself, I struggled with gender dysphoria. I know just how difficult it can be knowing and believing that the way that you're born, the way that you're made is wrong."

Cole admitted that she had been part of groups involved in legislative sessions, telling her story of transitioning and attempting to outlaw minors from transitioning.

One student challenged Cole, reading verbatim from her lawsuit about her doctor's shortcomings in care that led to her detransition, wondering why Cole is attempting to create additional barriers for other children that might lead to the same poor experience.

"It's never appropriate to interfere with a perfectly healthy child's natural course of development, sexually, physically, psychologically," Cole replied. "There is no biological marker for being transgender and I don't believe that there is a such thing as a transgender kid because... being transgender is a choice and it's an adult choice that will affect pretty much every area of your life."

More: Matt Walsh at University of Iowa event says gender ideology is 'rejection of truth'

Protesters disrupt traffic outside IMU, President's house

Protesters occupied the intersection of Madison Street and Jefferson Street during Cole's speech, marching in a circle through the crosswalks and deadlocking traffic. They chanted, “Trans lives matter” and “Trans rights are human rights."

University of Iowa and Iowa City police attempted to clear the intersection around 8 p.m. once Cole wrapped up a Q&A session. A few protesters tried to jump back into traffic while some officers physically pushed and pulled protestors out of the way of oncoming cars.

After a large police presence took control of the intersection, about 100 protesters headed east on Jefferson Street and north on Clinton Street, staging a protest outside the University of Iowa's presidential residence, the symbolic home of Barbara Wilson. The demonstrators disbanded after 9 p.m., drawing a small crowd of onlookers from nearby apartments, sororities and dorms.

Cole drew ire from UI students ahead of appearance

In a release announcing Cole’s visit, Young Americans for Freedom said the group faced “significant resistance” from the UI’s Undergraduate Student Government. Posters advertising the event were allegedly torn down and “online threats” were made in an effort to disrupt the event, the group said.

Sidewalk chalk promoting Cole’s appearance was washed away, with video evidence sent to the university’s Office of Student Accountability.

YAF Chair Jasmyn Jordan said the A-Frame poster design promoting the event was also “run over and stolen.” Jordan filed a police report and the frame was recovered near Calvin Hall, Jordan said. The sign is the property of UI Event Services.

The YAF listing for Cole’s on EventBrite, a social event service, was also removed for violating the site's policy on listing "Hateful, Dangerous, or Violent Events."

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Demonstrators object to detransitioner's Iowa City visit