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Cole said she started testosterone and blockers at 13, had a double mastectomy at 15, and began to detransition at 16

Nearly 50 people staged a protest of detransitioner Chloe Cole’s Young Americans for Freedom event at the University of Iowa on Monday.

The YAF chapter of the flagship public university invited Cole, 19, a formerly trans-identifying woman who now advocates against child transgender procedures, to speak about receiving hormones and surgery for her own gender dysphoria and then attempting to reverse the effects.

YAF Iowa Chapter Chair Jasmyn Jordan told The College Fix in an email Wednesday that protesters had employed juvenile tactics because they could not deny Cole’s personal testimony.

“It’s incredibly difficult for leftists to challenge the realities of Chloe’s firsthand traumatic experience,” Jordan said. “So all they can do is resort to childish behavior, inconveniencing others and complaining.”

Cole (pictured, left) posted to X that evening, “Individuals suffering from gender dysphoria should be treated with compassionate, life affirming care which cannot include sterilization and mutilation.”

She spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of roughly 200 at the event, according to a YAF news release.

She describes herself as a “former trans kid” who “started T[estosterone] & Blockers at 13,” and had a “Double Mastectomy at 15” and “detransed at 16,” according to her Instagram bio.

The Fix reached out to Cole twice in the past week via email to ask about the opposition she had faced at University of Iowa and what she would like the protesters there to know. She has not responded.

Inside the theater where she spoke Monday night, opponents held up signs saying “Protect trans kids,” “Trans rights are human rights,” and, “You can’t legislate trans people away,” according to photos and video posted by Cole and The Daily Iowan, the university’s student newspaper.

Next, they began walking around an intersection just outside the IMU, blocking traffic, as seen in video posted by YAF.

Cole posted to X again later that evening, stating, “There was a University of Iowa professor at tonight’s event who sneered and laughed at me when I talked about my experiences of being sexually taken advantage of during my transition.”

“It brings to mind how in 8th grade I felt like I couldn’t trust my own teachers enough to report my sexual assault,” Cole said.

The professor “later ran out of the room screaming about protecting trans kids while purposefully ignoring the fact that I was one of the trans kids who they failed to protect,” she wrote.

The protestors outside of my @yaf event in Iowa tonight chant an essential truth. Their lives matter.

Individuals suffering from gender dysphoria should be treated with compassionate, life affirming care which cannot include sterilization and mutilation pic.twitter.com/PJefoKWFow

— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChoooCole) October 17, 2023

There was a University of Iowa professor at tonight’s event who sneered and laughed at me when I talked about my experiences of being sexually taken advantage of during my transition. It brings to mind how in 8th grade I felt like I couldn’t trust my own teachers enough to report…

— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChoooCole) October 17, 2023

In an email interview The Fix published May 15, Cole spoke about opposition to her college tour, particularly during a recent appearance at Dartmouth.

“I am no longer surprised about the response I get from protestors,” Cole wrote.

“I think we all would react similarly if we were told lies from everyone around us and given poisonous doses of hormones by trusted medical professionals,” she said.

“I have a deep understanding of the place it comes from, and I have empathy for their position,” she wrote.

Iowa State Representative Jeff Shipley also attended the event Monday night, posting on X on Tuesday that Cole “told her personal story, took questions, and even expressed empathy for her protesters and her sincere love for all trans people — calling on all of us to be ‘cool humans.’”

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IMAGES: YAF/YouTube; @nataliem_14/Twitter

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