The Public Interest Environmental Law Conference is looking to be a crowded event for all the wrong reasons.
On Thursday night, radical feminist activist, author and controversial figure Lierre Keith will be speaking at the PIELC, a four-day environmental law conference put on by University of Oregon law students. Keith’s controversy stems from her views on trans people, particularly that she’s considered by most people in the LGBTQ community as transphobic.
“I think ‘transphobic’ is a ridiculous word. I have no strange fear of people who claim to be ‘trans.’ I deeply disagree with them, as do most radical feminists,” Keith said when asked about her views on trans people. “I can’t fathom how mutilating people’s bodies to fit an oppressive power arrangement is frankly anything but a human rights violation. And men insisting that they are women is insulting and absurd.”
Those comments, as well as some others, have driven the UO LGBTQ community to petition the ASUO Senate to pass a resolution declaring their respect for the concerns of students regarding Keith’s presence. The resolution passed during senate’s Feb. 12 meeting, after being turned down in two prior votes. The resolution does not ask PIELC to remove Keith as a speaker, but rather calls for an alternative panel in which students offended by Keith who still want to or are obligated to attend the conference, can attend.
“At least four classes that I’m aware of are requiring their students to attend the conference,” graduate student and GTF in the environmental studies department Julie Bacon, said. “Students shouldn’t have to be forced to listen to someone who condemns who they are or what they believe in.”
When asked to comment on Keith’s lecture, the PIELC referred back to a statement they made which says that they stand by their decision to keep Keith as a keynote speaker.
“PIELC and the Co-directors do not align with nor endorse every viewpoint of any particular keynote speaker, and simply seek to further constructive discussion of today’s environmental issues,” the statement said. “PIELC is an opportunity for people of differing opinions and viewpoints to join together and find common ground. Any actions that threaten this peaceful discourse will be unwelcome at PIELC and will be met with the appropriate legal response.”
Protests, threats and violence has become an unfortunate commonplace at many of Keith’s talks. In a recent incident in San Francisco, Keith was attacked by three unknown assailants who threw three pies laced with cayenne pepper at her face. However that attack was based off of her stance on vegetarianism.
Regardless of their stance on Lierre Keith’s personal values, both her supporters in the Deep Green Resistance and many of those in opposition to her beliefs agree that violence on either side is unnecessary.
“If you look at what Keith said, you won’t find a single word that condones violence against anyone,” DGR member Rachel Ivey said. “We’re defending females rights to gather as a class. These allegations are based on a misrepresentation of facts.”
However, many in the UO LGBTQ community don’t agree with that, especially student Cordelia Finley, and was a co-writer of the resolution presented to the ASUO Senate. Finley believes that bringing Keith onto the UO campus will only bring a negative and unwelcoming environment to future LGBTQ supporters.
“Bringing Lierre Keith here is like bringing a white supremacist on campus,” Finley said during a senate meeting. “Even if that person wouldn’t speak about white supremacy, it sends a message that we’re willing to give money to people that shouldn’t be allowed to be here.”
Keith’s presentation will begin around 7:30 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom on Thursday, Feb. 27.