Building Hope

Event wrap up

An anti-trans event occurred and the community came together to support LGBTQ+ individuals, organize, and raise money. Below is a summary of the event, how to respond to events like these, what actually happened, and a survey of public sentiment on the event.

Right below this is a donation link to NDSU LGBTQ+ students. This page is maintained to teach individuals how to respond to events in a hopeful and healing way, while letting hate burn itself out.

The Best Protest is Donation

If you don't like that the TurningPointUSA event is happening, the best way to protest and support students is donate to them. If you do donate, let me know how much, so we can see how much this event helped raised money for LGBTQ+ folks!

Donation Page: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/49196/donations

Instruction: For "Designation" select "Other" which is located at the bottom. This will allow you to write an entry. Write in - Pride Alliance Fund

Donations raised on December 5th: $268!

Challenges to Hope

TurningPointUSA's NDSU Chapter has an event planned, inviting national speaker opposed to trans healthcare, Chloe Cole, on December 5th. Their events are often highly politically charged and feature extreme rhetoric often antagonistic to minority groups. Earlier this year, they also helped bring Riley Gaines here, who is mainly known for advocating for the removal of trans women from sports.

reaction to event

Protesting the event is discouraged, given these organizations are often reactionary and inflammatory. They thrive on picking fights and getting in the media, where their positions are framed as a reasonable counter to the existence of LGBTQ+ individuals, rather than framing them correctly as bullies. A better reaction to the event is to let them enjoy themselves, while the community builds hope, organizes for equality, and solicits support and donations.

Any time you see someone commenting on social media, please send them here, direct them where they can get involved or supported, or ask for donations! Any questions you can email me at [email protected]. Similar organizing will occur around any event that is antagonistic towards LGBTQ+ individuals.

Event Details

The event featured approximately 65 to 80 individuals and followed the itinerary to plan. I had written a letter to the editor published on Dec 9th, titled, "Please lead with compassion for queer and trans youth." Fr. James Cheney estimated there to be 125 to 150 individuals, but photography of the event would put it more accurately around 80.

The event featured several armed guards according to eye witnesses, but no visible protesting or disruption of the event occurred. This event garnered significant backlash online, with individuals protesting the use of NDSU Campus for hosting it. Many cited "Bisonfest" was a confusing title and many more believed NDSU was hosting the event. A survey collecting this feedback was compiled.

How to respond to events like this

Number One: Don't Disrupt the Event Happening

They want to make the news, they want it to be a free speech issue, they want it to seem like there is an equal fight. They're bullies and they don't have good ideas, so let them air it out and have fun. Wish them well.

Number Two: Harm Reduction

Assess the possible damage and protect the community who is targeted in some way. Support group, raise funds for them, offer messages of encouragement. The point of protesting is to show support, you don't need to go to a hate rally to do that. Show support directly to people who need it and it's way warmer, kinder, and more effective that way.

Number Three: Sustained Organizing

Create an avenue for organizers to meet, discuss actions planned for the future, and connect folks to movement building. This event doesn't matter by itself, it's just a distraction. So, you get those feelings and direct people to things that do matter.

Number Four: Create a Focal Point

A thousand people will reach out, share opinion, suggest action, but 99% of it doesn't leave social media. Direct those on social media to either support if they're impacted, donation if they're not, or activism if they're inclined. Ask to record their comments. Invite public feedback. Record the history of the event.

Posting online feels like talking and feels like being heard, but it's a vacuum. Suggesting ideas with no plan of action is noise. But every contribution can be made useful with focusing the intent. And to actually create momentum you have to think much bigger and further than to just events like this. But think about a thousand ways use this moment to fight for a better world that are productive, healing, hopeful, and forward facing.

Examples in Action

Support Group - "T4Tea"

Details: Fargo-Moorhead Transgender Peer Support Group

Location: Parachigo - Time 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/891679509734457

Post Detail Events - Pending

Activism & Coffee

Details: Gather with local activists, sign-up for getting involved throughout the year, and vent about the world.

Location: Red Raven - Time 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Connect with: Red Raven, Popt4rt, Tristate Transgender

History

Post Detail Events - Approximately 25 individuals showed up to talk about activism within the community and how to get involved.

Personal Account
I was so impressed to see all the people at the activist meetup last night. Our community is charged and ready to take action. Red Raven Espresso Parlor were amazing hosts and after a round of introductions, led us in taking turns to speak on our concerns and ideas.

We had a MPS school board member and teacher share how imperative it is to message our school boards and insist on a school proposition to keep schools a safe haven. Project 2025 plans to immediately remove this protection and individual school policies are imperative to keep our children safe and attending school.

Pop T4rt Productions informed us that they are expanding from solely drag shows to include coordinated volunteer work focused on public health and Homelessness. They expressed interest in helping Tristate establish a new connection with the Pride Collective and Community Center.

Tristate spoke about their established support group for trans and gender nonconforming people. They are working to establish community events like Game Night with Paradox Comic and Cards and possibly name changing clinics. They are excited to get more folks involved and get some of these events moving. They expressed a desire to raise funds to help folks get to gender affirming surgeries. I chose to speak next, as I hope to work with Tristate to achieve some of my goals.

I pitched to the group my ideas for making Moorhead a gateway to Minnesota as a refuge state. I'd like to make a Railroad to help trans people fleeing persecution from other states. I am looking forward to connecting with some of the community members I met to get these ideas moving.

United Women Ex was excited to inform us they have started a chapter in Fargo and already are sporting around 40 members. Volunteers excited to be pointed in the right direction to where we need help and hands.

Next, a member of the BeYOU advisory board shared they are trying to find ways to get more resources to orgs and support the LGBTQ+ community.

Others shared about the hardships they have faced and those that have impacted our community. One individual their experience finding lack of support in Fargo for queer recovery spaces and support. They are interested in forming alternative queer friendly recovery groups. Another expressed much of the hurt that has resounded through our groups. I am encouraged in knowing this is another opportunity for us to heal and thus grow.

The night carried themes of sharing resources, coordinating volunteers, healing, and preparing for what is next. It filled me with a sense of resilience. There are already plans for more meetings and active organization and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Vanessa Clark Account

On December 5th, this year, there was another shitty event planned at NDSU, hosted by the NDSU turning point usa chapter. Instead of going head on and protesting the event directly, some of us decided to call in community and let those who are targeted by these events know they have support. It's hard to tell how these general calls will work out. It really depends on who shows up, and the energy everyone brings with them. Effective protesting isn't off the table, but trying to do these things effectively is another challenge. It can also be hard to face bigotry head on. Sometimes it's better to not subject yourself to things. Sometimes it's better to find where you can better put your energy. In the face of bigotry, what we need most is to know we're not alone.

It's important to let others know that the hate isn't the majority, and that there are people who love and accept them as they are. That there is a safe place to be themselves and to find support and community.

Trying to create a space that is truly safe and supportive is also challenging. There's a lot of extra fear and anxiety going into this new year, with Trump and the overall rise in overt fascism in this country and all over the world. It's getting scarier.

We're at a time where building community is a matter of survival. We need to work together. But we're all coming together from all different paths, and life experiences, and trauma. There's lots of raw emotion coming out of these fears. It makes it hard to create a safe space for everyone. It's hard to create a space where there is trust that everyone in the room is there to serve the best interest of everyone else in the room. Trying to build community and engage in activism that is meaningful and effective isn't easy. There isn't a perfect road map. We take from what we know, and try to navigate as we go. There's planning needed. But that takes everyone coming to the table with a base understanding of what we're trying to accomplish. It's hard to just throw people in a room and hope something comes out of it.

But these things require engagement and conversation to get things started. We need to all think about how we are part of building safety and community with one another. Not just thinking we're going to show up and other folks got all the answers. No one has all the answers. There's no plug and play with any of this.

Reasons why people have said 'the time to get organized was yesterday, the best time to get organized is now'. These things take time. We need to take these opportunities to come into a room together to get things going. To start building. To start as individuals, trying to see where the needs are, and ask others to join us in making things happen. We need planning. None of us can tackle it all by ourselves. We need everyone doing what they can, with what they have.

We had the meeting and we did the best we could to shape it into something that could have the potential to bring community together to talk and maybe make some plans. The biggest hope was for folks to at least know there's somewhere safe to be. But again, raw emotions, trauma, interpersonal dynamics makes it a challenge. We had an emotional blow up. We had some finger pointing and people left. Not everyone, but a good chunk of the room left. We took a break and tried to come back to the meeting.

Maybe it ran a bit long too, and people needed to leave. But also, of course those kinds of things put people off and people leave. It's hard coming into things when our emotions are running high, to keep things in perspective.

The meeting was intended to be a safe space, and a place to be in community and feel supported. It's hard to figure out the best solutions to deal with the interpersonal dynamics that create tension and division, when we need to build community with one another.

We need everyone to look at the bigger picture and understand the need for community is essential to keeping all of us safe. We need everyone to have perspective on what actually matters right now. We need to keep trying. We are all fighting for our lives.

We all need to hold a vision of how this world could be better and work with others to move towards that. What do we want? Safety, community, a world where we help one another have our basic needs met, where we're free to put our time and energy towards where we feel passionate, and not just doing what we need to do to survive.

We need bread and we need roses. We need one another to make it happen. We need to work together to not let fascism and hate and bigotry undermine and hold us hostage. We need true freedom. The freedom and peace that can only come from a truly just world. No justice, no peace.

Direct College Support

Details: Students gathered to express joy, do yoga, engage with therapy dogs, and craft friendship bracelets

Location: Aldevron 150 - Time 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Connect: Pride Alliance

NDSU Resources

Resource Page - LGBTQ+

Support Group - Pride Alliance

Connect with Mentors - Out at NDSU

Reach out to find more on campus support!

Community Survey

A public survey was opened on Dec 5th. 192 responses were recorded between Dec 5th and Dec 9th, with 25 taken out because no name was provided. This is an informal survey to capture public sentiment of this event, to help NDSU understand what public reaction exists in response to this event. Free Speech is not speech without consequence.

The summary is this event lost an enormous amount of public trust, likely funding, and will make LGBTQ+ students less likely to attend or any students to be referred to NDSU. Events that are allowed, are not free from making students or communities feel unsafe. And while NDSU likely was legally bound to allow this to occur, it didn't seem anyone either knew that distinction or cared about it.

Full Results of Survey

Submitted LEtters

December 9, 2024

Dear President Cook,

I am an alumna of North Dakota State University. As an alumna and as a resident of my community and
my state I was most angered seeing an announcement of an event being held on campus this past
Thursday evening, December 5. Sponsored by Turning Point USA NDSU chapter, the event was billed as
“Bison Fest” with a modified Bison logo prominently displayed.

Let me provide university guidelines on the use of logos by student groups: “Student organizations are
not required to use the official NDSU logo; however, any student organization wishing to use the NDSU
logo must use the logo correctly and follow the same guidelines as academic departments. Student
organizations that wish to use a bison must request permission from NDSU Athletics. • Never attempt
to recreate, alter or add elements to the logos. (bold print is added by me) • To request student
organization logos, send an email to [email protected]. • Questions about athletic logos
should be directed to Troy Goergen at [email protected].

My initial reaction in seeing the notice of the event was that this had been approved by the university. I
now know this is not true, but I believe the organizers were disingenuous in how they presented this
event. This was reinforced by seeing many posts on social media and in comments directly presented to
me with the statement that NDSU was hosting this egregious event.

Looking at the guidelines which I think are quite clear, I am faced with two questions: did this student
group, in fact, get approval as required by the NDSU Athletics? If not, then did they not violate basic
branding guidelines and should not consequences be applied? If, in fact, they did get approval, then I
have another host of concerns as to what criteria if any is applied when approving such a use of
branding.

I recognize and appreciate the First Amendment rights that a university needs to honor even when that
freedom results in a student group targeting and spreading disinformation about a small, vulnerable
subset of people within our university and our community. My concern is spiked in two ways: foremost
is the harm that these actions bring upon our LGBTQ community. Recent studies are showing a huge
upsurge in depression, anxiety and suicidality amongst this community. Secondly, this paints a picture of
a campus in which division and hatred is actively sanctioned. I have in the past week heard references of
university supporters reconsidering their support of NDSU (I had those thoughts myself); and, I have
heard of prospective students reconsidering attending the university. I have a granddaughter, a senior in
high school, and a niece, looking at graduate school. Both have NDSU on their short list and I know both
will take the campus climate as a serious consideration. I don’t have to tell you that we can ill afford
either of these impacts.

I look forward to a response to my questions and concerns.
Barry Nelson, Graduate of ’74