OPINION: Shouting/shutting down free speech not the way to win hearts and minds

The folks at the Independent Women’s Forum got a New Mexico True welcome this week.

First, the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute pulled the plug on a “Her Game. Her Legacy” bus tour shortly before it was set to begin a 33-New Mexico county tour there on Monday. Monday’s kickoff was significant as June 23 marked the 53rd anniversary of Title IX, a landmark federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in programs receiving federal funding, paving the way for women’s and girl’s sporting programs in high schools and colleges across the country.

The farmers’ market played dumb, saying on social media: “The agreement signed by the Independent Women’s Forum described the event as a ‘Celebration for Athletes and Families.’ That description was fundamentally misleading. As much as we support free speech, we want to make it clear that SFFMI (Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute) is in disagreement with the message and intent of this particular event.”

The farmers’ market apparently didn’t perform due diligence researching the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) on the internet before approving the contract with the Virginia-based nonprofit.

The farmer’s market added it had “no intention of allowing the event to take place at our facility.” That’s the kind of free speech suppression we’ve come to know and expect in the Land of Enchantment. If you don’t agree with it, shut it down.

After the SFFMI abruptly terminated the contract the weekend before Monday’s event — something for which IWF should absolutely sue the farmers’ market — IWF was forced to switch locations to an outdoor launch.

But they couldn’t escape the anti-free speech mob. About 200 protesters gathered outside the Inn and Spa at Loretto in downtown Santa Fe where they pounded on drums, screamed at event attendees over bullhorns and marched carrying pre-printed signs stating “No room for hate in Santa Fe,” “Stand up for public education” and “Trans youth are sacred.”

I do wonder how many of the protesters were paid to raise hell. Paying agitators is a common practice in New Mexico Democratic politics, as we saw during the phony 2021 redistricting process when the Center for Civic Policy offered $50 stipends for people to testify remotely at a congressional redistricting hearing. I’d like it if paid protesters would wear name tags saying, “Jane Doe. Bought and paid for,” because I am seeing a lot of familiar faces at these anti-Trump and anti-deportation protests.

Pointing out the repeat protesters would be a good research project for one of our nonprofit or publicly funded media outlets, or a political science class at the University of New Mexico.

The protest against IWF remained largely peaceful despite a few heated verbal altercations between protesters and passers-by. Nicki Handler of Santa Fe summed up the intolerance well, describing IWF as Nazis. That one never seems to get old with the political left. Handler also called IWF religious zealots, in a city whose name translates to “Holy Faith.”

And where was Archbishop of Santa Fe John Wester when he was needed in the state’s capital? The archbishop led a rally in Downtown Albuquerque in May calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and he’s never shown a reluctance to enter the immigration debate. Does the Roman Catholic Church not have a position on being comfortable in the bodies given to us by God, Title IX or protecting the integrity of girl’s sports? It sure doesn’t look like it from Wester’s absence in political discourse that doesn’t necessarily favor the political left.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, in Santa Fe for a meeting of the Western Governors Association, told the crowd at the “Her Game. Her Legacy” event that President Donald Trump’s administration is “putting a stop to the madness” of allowing transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.

Our president is on the right side of history, and it’s increasingly apparent.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey in May found 52% of respondents approve of the way Trump is handling transgender issues, with about two-thirds of U.S. adults agreeing with our president that whether a person is a man or a woman is determined by their biological characteristics at birth.

The United Kingdom in December joined Sweden, Denmark and France in banning puberty blockers for children under 18; the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., paused all puberty blockers and hormone therapy prescriptions for transgender youth patients in January; and the NCAA in February implemented a long-overdue policy of restricting women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth.

Yes, the madness is stopping — despite out-sized protests in single political party communities like Santa Fe.

Former Gov. Susana Martinez struck the right tone at the bus tour launch. “Fair play isn’t just a slogan, it’s a standard worth protecting,” she said. The two-term Republican governor said it even better in a subsequent interview with the Journal: “I’m not saying we should ever take away from transgenders, but we shouldn’t take away from the girls either just to make sure they have a space.”

Shutting down free speech and expression may be the New Mexico way, but it’s not the American way. You’re never going to win the hearts and minds of your opponents yelling at them through a bullhorn. The way to win people over is more free speech, not less.