STATUS OF ‘TRANSGENDERISM AND WOMANHOOD’ DEBATE AT PITT UNCERTAIN AFTER PARTICIPANT DROPS OUT

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Alexandra Ross

Assistant News Editor

Transgender scholar Deirdre McCloskey has dropped out of an on-campus debate against conservative political commentator Michael Knowles about “transgenderism and womanhood” next week, and the organizers of the debate have not yet found her replacement.

McCloskey said she had “no idea” who Knowles was when she agreed to the debate, and after learning more about him and his beliefs, she decided to withdraw from the event.

“[Knowles] is interested in stirring up hatred and violence towards people who do not fit his extremely conservative Catholic beliefs, belief[s] quite contrary to those of for example Pope Francis,” McCloskey said. “His beliefs are not even good Biblical criticism or theology. I decided not to participate in giving him a platform. … It is sad that the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, once a force for liberty, decided to sponsor Mr. Knowles.”

After hearing of McCloskey’s withdrawal from the debate, Knowles posted on Twitter that perhaps McCloskey had “learned that I'm not the loose cannon that the liberal media have dishonestly portrayed,” and that “my opposition to transgenderism derives, not from hatred, but from love of the truth, in this case regarding epistemology and anthropology.”

“I’m happy to take a victory by default,” Knowles tweeted. “But it’s telling that even a distinguished scholar with three Harvard degrees and half a dozen honorary doctorates cannot defend transgenderism. Of course: the ideology is indefensible.”

Pitt’s College Republicans club, sponsored by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, was set to host McCloskey and Knowles on April 18 for an on-campus debate. The debate, among other events hosting “anti-trans” speakers, inspired significant backlash at Pitt as transgender students said the events made them feel “unwelcome” and “in danger” on campus.

ISI President John Burtka said ISI selected Knowles and McCloskey to participate in the

Faculty