Activist Chloe Cole delivered a speech Tuesday evening at Illinois State University, sharing her story of transitioning as a teenager and later detransitioning as two audience members yelled profanities and accusations before being removed, and another challenged her over research on gender-transition outcomes.
The Illinois State University College Republicans hosted Chloe Cole, a Young America’s Foundation speaker, where she spoke about her experience transitioning as a minor and later detransitioning. The event, attended by students and community members, drew counterprotests organized by the university’s Young Democratic Socialists of America. Protesters held signs reading “Fight for trans rights,” “Gender-affirming care saves lives,” and “Trans rights are human rights,” while chanting “Trans rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “Transphobia is not welcome here.”
Cole, who began hormone treatments and underwent a double mastectomy as a teenager before detransitioning, spoke about her journey and faith, saying she “went from being their poster child to their punching bag,” referring to the transgender community. She added that “chasing false idols and [her] own desires before the will of God nearly killed [her]” and that “Christ walks with [her] on this journey.” She also addressed the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, saying, “Living our values to the fullest is how we’re going to move forward,” and, “The torch has been passed to us. We have nobody to wait on other than ourselves because we are the antidote to the evil in our world.”
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A couple of disruptions occurred throughout the event. In one instance, a young woman abruptly stood up during Cole’s prepared remarks. As she got to the top of the stairs, Cole smiled and waved, saying, “Bye-bye,” which drew laughter from the audience. Before leaving the room, the protester shouted, “Two hundred sixty-three f***ing transgender people dead because of people like you!” Security immediately moved to escort her.
Later, while Cole was speaking about what she described as “evil and demonic transgender ideology,” a male protester began interrupting repeatedly from his seat. After being warned by security, the man demanded, “Why?” before standing up and yelling, “Go to hell, bigots!” Cole remained calm and replied, “I will be praying for you.” As the man raised his middle finger and walked up the stairs toward the exit, he shouted back, “You care so much about human rights yet you say all this bullsh*t—go to hell!” A “God bless you” from an audience member could be heard as he left.
During the Q&A portion, Cole was challenged by an audience member who questioned why she viewed her experience as representative of broader transgender healthcare. The attendee pointed to research claiming regret among transitioned patients is “less than one percent” and pressed her to explain why she considered it higher.
Cole replied that many studies “don’t give patients enough time to decide whether or not they actually regret it,” saying regret “can take seven years to over a decade to fully materialize.” She referenced a long-term Swedish study that found higher rates of mental illness among adults who had transitioned, while the questioner argued that the study’s authors attributed those outcomes to social pressure rather than medical procedures. The exchange concluded with Cole stating that “there are only two sexes, and it cannot be changed, no matter what interventions are in place.”
The interaction illustrated how cultural battles over medicine and morality are increasingly reaching beyond college campuses. In April, the Trump administration directed the National Institutes of Health to study “regret” and “detransition” among children and adults who have undergone gender transition procedures—a move Acting NIH Director Matthew Memoli said was requested by President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The memo emphasized the research was “very important” and urged that funding be announced within six months. The initiative drew mixed reactions: Oxford sociologist Michael Biggs noted that detransitioners “an understudied population,” while some public health experts criticized the memo’s terminology as politically motivated and “stigmatizing.”
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Cole has become one of the best-known detransitioners challenging the so-called medical practices that guided her transition. In 2023, she filed a lawsuit against Kaiser Hospitals and related institutions, alleging medical negligence in performing procedures while she was a minor. Since then, she has testified before Congress and spoken at numerous universities and conferences, calling for greater oversight and transparency in the medical treatment of minors.
Cole’s speech came as debate intensifies over Illinois’ policies on how transgender identification intersects with medicine, sports, and education. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has pledged to expand access to gender-transition procedures and protect “gender-affirming care,” while Republican lawmakers have urged federal intervention over transgender participation in women’s sports and school policies. Breitbart News has previously reported, citing Tablet Magazine, that billionaire Jennifer Pritzker, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Illinois National Guard and cousin of Governor J.B. Pritzker, has used the Tawani Foundation to fund organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the Williams Institute, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and WPATH, while Tawani Enterprises has invested in companies producing surgical tools used in gender procedures.
The events at Illinois State were part of a continuing wave of demonstrations sparked by Cole’s campus speeches. In December 2023, several professors at the University of Utah canceled classes and held “healing circles” ahead of Cole’s scheduled lecture on detransitioning, amid “safety concerns” for students. The event, hosted by Young America’s Foundation, drew protests from the Utah Students for a Democratic Society and required roughly 60 security officers and guards. During that speech, Cole described her transition and reversal as “an incredibly painful” yet “valuable learning experience,” urging audiences to “keep fighting to rid the country of this practice of manipulating, utilizing, mutilating, and sterilizing children.”
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