Organizations identifying themselves as Democratic and liberal plan an event interrogating trans rights Sunday in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, drawing a protest from trans rights groups and a call for a boycott of the owners of the host restaurant, Glass House.
The “Born In The Right Body” fundraiser is organized by Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender and the LGBT Courage Coalition. Tickets are $200 per person, including a multicourse meal, with proceeds going to the two organizations. The event will be preceded by the “Born in the Right Body: Law and Learning Forum” at 1 p.m. at MIT’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research at 45 Carleton St., near Kendall Square in the Area II neighborhood.
The forum includes talks from Simon Price, an “ex-trans speaker and writer”; Jamie Reed, a “pediatric clinic whistleblower” and executive director of the LGBT Courage Coalition – also called the LGB Courage Coalition; as well as Sarah Stockton, described as a whistleblower; Lisa Selin Davis, a journalist; and Vernadette Broyles, president of the Child and Parental Rights Campaign.
A counterdemonstration will be held by TransMIT and the Stonewall Liberation Organization at 5 p.m. Sunday at Glass House at 450 Kendall St.
Julia Turcotti and Mila Halgren are MIT students and organizers with TransMIT. “There is a vibrant trans community at MIT,” Turcotti said, “all fighting to self-determine our rights.”
Turcotti called Sunday’s events “horrific.”
“We got a lot of outreach from a lot of people expressing horror at this event,” Turcotti said.
The organizers
Diag is an advocacy group centered around Democrats and former Democrats who seek to “develop a public health campaign to reach target audiences, providing evidence-based information about ‘gender affirming care,’” according to its website.
In an emailed statement to Cambridge Day, a spokesperson reaffirmed its commitment to hosting the keynote at Glass House on Sunday. “We are moving forward with our events as planned. We are committed to free speech, and that means hearing from various parties who have seen up close the harms caused by medical interventions for gender-distressed youth.”
“Our organization, like LGB Courage Coalition, is made up of liberals committed not only to free speech but women’s rights and the rights of young people to a healthy future. We are supported by parents, MDs, psychologists and educators. The fact that activists are trying to silence our views and shut down debate shows they can not defend their cause on its merits,” the spokesperson said.
The LGBT Courage Coalition includes lesbian and gay adults “calling for reform of youth gender medicine,” prioritizing supporting “whistleblowers from within pediatric gender centers, most of whom are LGBT,” according to its website. It did not respond to a request for comment.
Protest organizers
TransMIT has been in communication with the organizers and the Briar Group, which owns Glass House, Turcotti said, as well as two of tomorrow’s event speakers, Price and Reed.
“When we engage, we find that free speech is their main talking point. Your freedom to practice free speech is protected until it inflicts harm,” Turcotti said. “We cannot call this free speech and defend it.”
Reed, one of the speakers for tomorrow’s events, was a caseworker at a pediatric gender clinic youth gender clinic at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Reed took hundreds of pages of records from calls and emails and testified in the Missouri Statehouse, working closely with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to aid in passing legislation banning gender-affirming care for minors, testifying as a key witness. In 2023, the bill passed into law.
“These people are savvy political operators,” Halgren said.
Price, another speaker at tomorrow’s panel, is a Berklee College of Music graduate and writer. Halgren saw him speak at an event at MIT a while ago – an event where his father was present and chimed in, Halgren said, and was “saddened” by what she saw.
“I primarily feel pity for Simon. They’re a kid. They’re not the focus for us,” she said. “The focus for me is preventing [transexclusionary radical feminist] groups from passing legislation that kills people.”
Glass House
Despite backlash online via social media, Glass House – which describes itself as a “meeting house” – is committed to the Sunday event, said a spokesperson for the Briar Group, Glass House’s parent company: “Once an event is under contract, it’s up to the discretion of the event organizer to proceed or cancel.”
“The event at Glass House is organized and hosted by a private event client. The views of private event clients do not represent Glass House, and we do not assume any responsibility for the views of our guests. Hosting a private event at Glass House is not an endorsement of the organizers’ position or opinion. We remain a neutral entity focused on providing excellent hospitality, food, beverage and dining experiences for those who come through our door,” the Briar Group said.
Turcotti hoped the presence of protesters at tomorrow’s events will discourage patrons from dining at Glass House and other Briar Group restaurants. “If you care about trans people and queer people, please boycott,” Halgren said.
“We’re really hoping that one way we can get through to them is by encouraging people to have their events and wedding receptions somewhere else,” Turcotti said. “We think it’s very likely that we can deter the guests from entering the event.”
Turcotti said that, despite tomorrow’s events, she believes there is a “communal fabric in Cambridge. One of the reasons we continue being empowered to fight is because we never fight alone here,” she said. “That social fabric is exactly the substance we hope to bring tomorrow.”
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What trans rights is the fundraiser going to question?
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
This is another piece of the iceberg that the Republicans are using to cause wedge issues in the Democratic party. These speakers and their agenda against anyone’s rights is the same one in England that has now declared the gender of Trans people (some who had surgery decades ago) to not be their legitimate gender and which Trumps allies are using to try to deny VOTING RIGHTS in the USA. This is not free speech its more of Trumps people trying to damage the Democratic Party and prevent being toppled politically thru secret hate speech agendas.
I’m the parent of a happy, well-adjusted trans kid. Thanks for letting us know about this, and especially the location. I’ve been there before, but won’t go again.
“ These speakers and their agenda against anyone’s rights…”
What rights, exactly, are we talking about?
Note looking at the organizers of the event’s website most of them are hiding behind pseudonyms to prevent their actual political affiliations and donations to be hidden.
“questioning trans rights” is a misleading headline. These groups are against them not “just asking questions.”
The “LGB Courage Coalition” as they call themselves are literally removing trans* people from the queer umbrella, under the guise of “asking questions” and “protecting children”. Both of those phrases have seemingly become dog whistles for transphobic people and antitrans activists.
This type of rhetoric is how a state law banning trans* kids from sports is now on the books in MA – a secret ballot and plausible deniability, hiding transphobia behind “protecting kids”.
If Glass House doesn’t have a way to end an event contract, they at least should justify why they agreed in the first place to host this event. And their claim that they aren’t supporting the views of their customers doesn’t align with how they are giving these groups a platform to raise money to attack trans* rights. They should also add a clause to their contracts giving them a way to cancel.
Both Glass House and MIT should curtail relations with any form of discrimination, including barely-veiled transphobia.