A prominent conservative was supposed to speak on campus at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in the next few weeks, but a decision from Broward County Public Schools has forced him to deliver his speech elsewhere.
Charlie Kirk, 24, is the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative group whose goal is to “push back against intolerance and bias against conservatives in higher education.”
The Miami Herald reports:
The turning away of prominent pundit Charlie Kirk, seen in some right-wing circles as the latest example of school campuses censoring conservative ideas, was not based on ideological biases, according to a spokesperson for Broward County Public Schools.
Broward County Public Schools spokesperson Cathleen Brennan said, “The school’s administration has met with the student organizers and advised them that non-school sponsored, student-initiated guest speaker assemblies/meetings are not permitted to take place on campus.”
In a tweet, Kirk noted that the school district’s decision was based on his beliefs, writing: “I was invited by several students to speak at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL. It seems there has been a decision to not allow me on campus. However, I bet if I was advocating for gun confiscation things would be quite different.”
Conservative student Kyle Kashuv announced Kirk would be speaking on campus on April 11 in a tweet that said: “It’s official!!!! @charliekirk11 will be speaking at #MSD! #KirkAtMSD”
When the school district told Kirk he was not allowed to speak on campus, Kashuv quickly pointed out that they allowed NBA star Dwayne Wade on campus, writing: “It’s quite interesting that @DwyaneWade was allowed on campus to push gun control – on what appears to have been a student invite – but @charliekirk11 isn’t allowed to. To say that @DwyaneWade wasn’t pushing an agenda and was just there to console is false.”