Hundreds showed up to watch conservative commentator Matt Walsh take the stage at UC Berkeley Thursday.
The controversial speaker was on campus prompting his documentary “What is a Woman."
“What I love about this area is you can always find your way downtown even if you don’t have a GPS because you just follow the stench of weed and fecal matter,” said Walsh at the event.
Meanwhile outside, the sound of sirens and loudspeakers bouncing off the walls as dozens protested his discussion on gender identity.
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“Gender ideology is insane, it's also dangerous and destructive and that's why I oppose it, I oppose it because it's not true,” said Walsh.
The pundit has long been critical of the trans community and gender fluid policies and this visit also brought mixed opinions on campus.
His documentary discusses gender identity but the university’s queer and trans community argues the message goes beyond free speech and into hate speech.
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“Its trying to take away from who we are, taking away from our identities,” said Manuel Cisneros, associate students senator for QT+ community.
In the weeks leading up to this visit, Walsh took to Twitter claiming he planned to make the left even more upset by bringing his screening to Berkeley, using past protest of his ongoing college tour to promote his visit.
“Our main point of action is to not give him the attention that he wants, not to protest or give him any more footage,” said Cisneros.
“It has nothing to do with hatred, it has nothing to do with marginalizing a community but it has everything to do with raising up political questions I think everyone should discuss,” said David Chan, president of Berkeley College Republicans.
The organization invited Walsh to campus for the discussion. They argue that he and other conservative speakers help bring alternative viewpoints to the traditionally liberal university.
“It’s really important that we have diverse amount of speech, a diverse amount of thought. That is how we grow as a community,” said Chan.
A controversial conversation that some say is needed and others feel borders on hate speech.
