The Sconi

Matt Walsh delivered a speech at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, describing progressives' assault on traditional values, and he found a welcoming audience. 

John Beauchamp, chairman of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College Republicans, said his organization partnered with Young America's Foundation to host Walsh for an Oct. 4 guest lecture called “The War on Reality: Why The Left Has Set Out To Redefine Life, Gender and Marriage.” 

“The topic of my talk today is the war on reality, which is really being waged in our culture," Walsh said. "That’s an easy transition, I think, because many of the COVID-19 policies that we’ve seen across the country represent a war on reality. But the war is deeper than that. COVID policies aside, this war is waged through three primary avenues, life, marriage and gender. By redefining these three things, these three foundations of human civilization, the left seeks to and in many ways succeeded in undermining reality and truth.”

Walsh, a writer, speaker and author, is considered one of the religious right’s most influential young voices. He is a frequent contributor to The Daily Wire.

“Over 300 students showed up to hear Walsh speak, packing a large lecture hall and even spilling into an overflow lecture hall,” Beauchamp told The Sconi. “Students heard about the left's assault on common sense and came away energized and ready to spread the conservative message across campus. Events like these allow us to reach a wider audience of students on campus and keep the conservative presence alive and well at Whitewater.”

Walsh opened his 40-minute presentation by noting the university required everyone present to wear a mask, except for him, and he was the one doing most of the talking. He said COVID-19 poses a low risk to college students.

A study published in Health Affairs compared the COVID-19 growth rate before and after mask mandates in 15 states and the District of Columbia found that mask mandates led to a slowdown in daily COVID-19 growth rate.

He also ensured everyone had access to a bottle of water, since rules state that people who are eating or drinking can take their mask off.

“That’s all, just a coincidence,” Walsh said. “I would never defy the science.”

He argued, however, that was what progressives have done with their attack on life, marriage and gender. The goal is to undermine truth and reality, Walsh said.

He responded to 10 basic arguments in favor of abortion, using facts blended with humor and opinion. Walsh said he was most concerned with stopping “the slaughter of 60 million babies.”

He questioned the logic behind the left’s distinguishing between the life of a fetus and the life of a human outside the womb. He argued that each fetus is a distinct human entity. He argued against the claim that “women have the right to choose” by saying that “the body in question is not the woman’s, but her unborn child.”

Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute wrote in Scientific American that a significant body of scientific literature shows serious and long-lasting adverse consequences of withholding abortion care are serious. Forcing someone who wants an abortion to continue a pregnancy requires them to accept the great risks of pregnancy, and labor-related complications, which include preeclampsia, infections and death.

He also spoke in favor of traditional marriage, and said he remains opposed to gay marriage.

Walsh also sharply disagreed with claims that there are more than two genders. He discussed the man who popularized the term gender when studying human nature, John Money, a prominent New Zealand psychologist, sexologist and author.

“John Money is why you guys know of the term gender,” he said.

Walsh said Money was a “fraud, a quack and a pedophile.” Money advised parents to castrate their son and allow him to study the boy and his twin brother, having them engage in “therapy sessions” that included nudity, sexual activity between the boys and photography.

While Money considered it a “smashing success,” it was not. Both boys were seriously damaged, and committed suicide as adults, Walsh noted.

Walsh said the issue is converting sex from a biological reality to a political and ideological issue.

He said the phrase that a person who identifies as a woman is a woman is a fallacy. It means there is no real definition of a woman, using the term to describe itself.

It’s like saying a tree is something that is identified as a tree, Walsh said, noting it’s enough to make him dizzy.

“What it comes down to is that if the word woman means nothing, it would be nonsensical to identify as one given you’re identifying as something that is not really anything,” Walsh said.

He also rejected the belief that people exist on a spectrum of sexuality. That dismisses sense, reason and ignores the laws of science, Walsh said.

Beauchamp said Walsh and other speakers with conservative views must be allowed to speak in public forums. Protestors gathered outside the hall where he spoke, labeling him a “fascist.”

Walsh wears that term openly, saying in his ideal world, he would rule as the sole person in power. Beauchamp said such a provocative statement is exactly what college students need to hear and debate.

“In the face of the constant liberal bias on campus, the UW-Whitewater College Republicans are proud to be the conservative voice for students at Whitewater,” he said. “As chairman one of my primary goals is to foster the freedom of speech and diversity of thought here on campus. I am excited to be partnering with Young America’s Foundation to host one of today’s most prominent conservative figures on campus to promote and encourage that same environment of civil discourse and the sharing of thoughts and ideas on how our great country can be improved upon.”

He said bringing Walsh to campus was not without its challenges.

“Over the past year, we were forced to cancel Matt Walsh's guest lecture several times before it finally came to fruition because the restrictive COVID measures on campus made it impossible to hold such a large-scale event until now,” Beauchamp said. “We are delighted that we were finally able to bring Walsh to campus to provide a welcome change from the constant liberal programming provided by the school.”

In addition to serving as chair of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater College Republicans, Beauchamp is the chair of the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans.