\u201cThis doesn\u2019t look like free speech to me,\u201d Paxton wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m going to look into this.\u201d<\/p>\n The Education Lab<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n TCU officials pushed back Wednesday on the characterization that the school canceled the event or blocked Cole from speaking. <\/p>\n \u201cTCU never canceled this event as it was never booked,\u201d Kathy Cavins-Tull, vice chancellor for student affairs, said in a statement. <\/p>\n Cavins-Tull said the space the Turning Point USA chapter requested after Sept. 18 for the event with 700 to 1,000 people \u201cwas already booked with another student event.\u201d The school \u201cexplored options\u201d before notifying the group on Sept. 25 \u201cthat a secure space was not available given the short notice, but we offered to find another date or space for the event.\u201d <\/p>\n TCU officials said they reached out to Paxton\u2019s office after seeing his social media post to \u201cprovide accurate information regarding the scheduling conflict on their requested date of the event.\u201d <\/p>\n The offices of Paxton and Roy did not respond to multiple requests for comment over email. <\/p>\n Cole is a leader of the embattled \u201cdetransition\u201d movement. The 21-year-old, who used to identify as transgender and now identifies as a woman, has been visiting colleges to \u201cend gender ideology,\u201d according to a social media post. <\/a><\/p>\n The Turning Point USA chapter identified \u201cseveral rooms that were available,\u201d but they \u201ckept being denied access to them,\u201d Cole told The Dallas Morning News. <\/p>\n Cole said school officials never gave \u201ca clear reason as to why they were rejecting us.\u201d She regards it as \u201ca discriminatory act against conservative and Christian events on their campus.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt seems to be in line with a broader pattern of denials and really just discouraging faculty and students from having these events, while other kinds of events move more quickly,\u201d she said. \u201cThey regularly host these big public gatherings, especially for athletic and community events, and they show capacity in a very short time frame when leadership wants to have those events.\u201d<\/p>\n The president of TCU\u2019s Turning Point USA chapter did not respond to an emailed request for comment. <\/p>\n Cole recently spoke at events hosted by Turning Point USA chapters at the University of Texas at San Antonio and Texas State University \u2014 part of a series of talks planned prior to co-founder Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination in September. <\/p>\n The upcoming event, which Cole expects 2,000 people to attend, is now scheduled to be hosted at Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth next week. <\/p>\n Paxton\u2019s post came a week after he joined other state attorneys general in demanding public colleges and universities uphold free speech and protect conservative voices on campus in the wake of Kirk\u2019s death. <\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n In a letter to presidents and deans, he asked schools to confirm that policies around using school facilities and security fees are \u201ccontent-neutral and viewpoint-neutral.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"Attendees](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/YYX6A3CQ5VDJNJEM2BMZ4I736A.jpg\")
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