LAS CRUCES – Over a thousand people flooded New Mexico State University's campus Tuesday evening. About half the crowd appeared to hear a speaker voicing rhetoric damning the existence of transgender people. The other half emerged in protest to the speaker.

The protest featured students, community members, local politicians, and university instructors and numbered in the hundreds.

The speaker, Matt Walsh, works as a podcaster and a far-right commentator. He's one of the staunchest anti-trans activists in America. In his podcast and books, Walsh has compared transgender people to animals and said a demonstrable phenomenon of higher suicide rates among the groups is misreported. In a recent podcast episode, he described a "gender ideology movement" as the "most hateful and violent movement in America."

His 90-minute talk at NMSU focused mainly on that stance. However, Walsh also spoke to the arrest of former U.S. President Donald Trump, saying the arrest was meritless and suggesting district attorneys with conservative leanings should arrest elected Democrats in retaliation.

The protest outside Walsh's talk was organized by Students For Reproductive Rights, a student organization at NMSU. The whole experience remained peaceful, if not occasionally tense, during Walsh's speech or when protestors confronted attendees afterward. Inside Walsh's address, police removed at least two people after they tried to shout Walsh down.

NMSU did not invite Walsh to speak. A student organization called Young Americans for Freedom asked Walsh to appear. In a statement, NMSU said they would not step in and prevent Walsh's talk. The statement noted that NMSU lacked the authority to intercede and described it as an expression of free speech.

NMSU Walsh Statment by Justin Garcia on Scribd

A day after Walsh's remarks, NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu provided a statement regarding the talk and protest.

"The university also realizes that certain speech may have a negative impact on some members of our community. It's written into NMSU policy that the free exchange of ideas is a reflection of the university's public land-grant heritage, interest in diverse points of view, and commitment to excellence in education and research. The freedom of speech is also recognized and protected by the U.S. Constitution. This includes speech that might be offensive or hurtful," Arvizu said.

And, for as much as the protestors sought to counter Walsh's words, many protesters expressed anger at NMSU for allowing Walsh to speak at all.

'They're speaking against who I am'

Around 300 students, faculty, staff and members of the Las Cruces community gathered outside Corbett Center Student Union to protest Walsh's appearance on campus. Many were members of the LGBTQ+ community who voiced fear and concern regarding Walsh's rhetoric.

Two students, who described themselves as queer, said they respected the university's need to honor free speech but felt that they were not being heard. Daxton Strobbe, 19, an NMSU student, said people should be protected at their school, but many do not feel that way.

"I feel it's oppressive to have the amount of students that are queer, that identify beyond the spectrum or inside the spectrum – to allow (Walsh) to speak here feels like silencing us or running us out or like they don't care about our opinions," Strobbe said.

Strobbe added he was surprised to see the hundreds who showed up for the speech.

"It's hard for me to support them when they're speaking against who I am. Because my identity as a trans person is constantly being debated by the government," said student Matthew Galey, 19. "I've heard so many awful things about trans people, and I just live my life like anyone else. So it's honestly, it's kind of scary. I'm scared to be who I am."

State Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces) was among several state legislators and local elected officials who joined the protest. She said she was disappointed in the university's lack of consideration for the potential harm such speakers can have on LGBTQ+ students.

"There's a lot of trans students here whose lives are at risk if any of the language he spews incites any type of violence," she said.

Rubio said she considers Walsh's rhetoric hate speech and inflammatory. She added she joined the crowd because supporting members of your community is crucial.

State Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Mesilla) appeared and said she shared Rubio's views. Sen. Carrie Hamblen (D-Las Cruces) told the Sun-News that she would write a letter to the NMSU administration to condemn Walsh's speech.

Las Cruces City Councilor Becky Corran also participated in the protest. Corran, who teaches at Doña Ana Community College, said it was important for trans students to know Las Cruces supports them. She added that the university could do more to support trans students.

"I think making sure that they have the most accessible trans policies, including things related to name changes and healthcare. Those would be two primary ways," she said.

NMSU's Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Justin Bannister reiterated that the university stands with its students. However, the issue "boils down" to First Amendment rights, he said.

"I think there's been a tremendous amount of support for LGBTQ students," Bannister told the Sun-News. "Students invited (Walsh). They filled out all the right forms, and it's a free speech issue."

The room where it happened

Stretching to include three ballrooms at the top of NMSU's Corbett Center, late-coming attendees were greeted to standing room only.

Student ushers with Young Americans for Freedom estimated the room contained about 400 seats, all of which were filled by the time Walsh spoke. Around a hundred more attendees stood behind.

The Sun-News conducted several interviews with attendees before members of Young Americans for Freedom asked media not to interview crowd members.

Young Americans for Freedom said it didn't want attendees to say something inaccurate or misleading. The Sun-News requested an interview with Young Americans for Freedom's student president. However, an interview could not be arranged before Walsh's talk.

The crowd was comprised of students, Las Cruces community members, and some individuals from outside Doña Ana County. In all, at least five hundred people appeared to hear Walsh. One of those people was Ryan Palmeri.

Palmeri is an NMSU freshman studying horticulture. Palmeri said he considers himself to be informed on most political issues. He told the Sun-News he knew of Walsh before Tuesday's talk but did not consider himself a follower. Still, he said the event had "lots of hype" leading up to it and came to see what Walsh was about.

"It just seemed entertaining," Palmeri said.

Palmeri said he felt NMSU made the right decision in not stepping in to stop Walsh's talk. He added that if the university allowed drag shows on campus, they should enable speakers like Walsh too. Palmeri reiterated that striking a balance was vital when asked why he felt drag shows and Walsh's speech were comparable. He added that he was glad people had the opportunity to protest outside.

The talk remained peaceful despite rumors of disruption beforehand. About 10 minutes into Walsh's speech, police escorted out a person shouting Walsh down. Then, about halfway into Walsh's talk, police escorted a second person out. Police on-scene confirmed that neither person would be charged with a crime.

After about an hour, Walsh took about half a dozen questions from the attendees. Most of these questions came from supporters asking Walsh about his past or policy options for formalizing his ideas. To that latter question, Walsh suggested focusing on federal policy and foregoing state legislatures.

EMT goes toe-to-toe with Walsh

The most extended question and answers came from two women who opposed Walsh's talk. Both women told Walsh about their experience with gender and their experience with anti-trans rhetoric. One of those women was Luna Burd.

Burd, a University of New Mexico undergraduate and first responder in Albuquerque, said she drove to Las Cruces for the event. She said she wanted Walsh and his supporters to see her.

"It wasn't that I felt like I needed to own Matt Walsh," Burd said in an interview with the Sun-News the day after the speech. "I wanted to look at a person who had some of the most hateful opinions I've ever seen about people like me and talk to that person and have them recognize that I see them, and I am not afraid of that person."

After his speech, Walsh posted a six-minute clip of his exchange with Burd on Twitter, misgendering her in the post. In the clip, Burd asks Walsh to define "woman." Walsh responds, saying "an adult human female" before suggesting in a follow-up question that pregnancy is the defining trait of women.

The crowd, meanwhile, ridiculed Burd at several points, laughing, interrupting and shouting. Burd said she expected that treatment from Walsh and his supporters. But appearing in that space was paramount, Burd said, because providing a human face to Walsh's speech and fighting back mattered most.

But Burd said she also saw Walsh's talk in another light.

"And it reminded me of hearing a story about George Lincoln Rockwell," Burd said, referring to the founder of the American Nazi Party. As Burd pointed out, Rockwell toured college campuses in the 1960s after receiving invitations to speak from student organizations.

"One of his tactics was to go to universities and speak, knowing that he wasn't necessarily going to be well received and knowing that he wasn't necessarily going to convert a lot of people to his opinion, but the point was to go to these universities and talk and platform and create a base," Burd said.

"And I felt like I was kind of watching these tactics, revitalized," Burd said. "I wanted to be part of sending a message saying we're not going to tolerate this."

Justin Garcia covers public safety and local government in Las Cruces. He can be reached via email at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com. Leah Romero is the trending reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached at LRomero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Anti-trans speech floods NMSU with hundreds of protestors