Two years ago, I had the honor of sitting next to Charlie Kirk at a fundraising dinner. It was the first and only time I met him, and I was struck by his candor about what he was witnessing on college campuses. Having spoken on campuses myself — long before Charlie was probably born \u2014 about pro-life issues and the harm abortion causes women, I knew the hostility one faces when daring to speak out on controversial topics. I was eager to hear what Charlie was experiencing.<\/p>\n
He was candid and unapologetic. More Gen Z men, he explained, were becoming conservative, while more Gen Z women were increasingly hostile — particularly to his pro-life stance.<\/p>\n
It made sense. Roe v. Wade had been overturned, and pro-abortion groups were reacting with hostility. Clinics were vandalized, pro-life organizations targeted, and activists urged the Biden administration to arrest grandmothers praying outside clinics. The stage was already being set for the dangerous narrative that \u201cviolence is acceptable when ideas are challenged.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, Charlie seemed tired but gracious. He told me he would head straight home after his speech to be with his wife and baby daughter. I could tell that was foremost in his mind. Yet he was still there, supporting a private Christian school, because raising children with biblical values and changing the culture mattered deeply to him.<\/p>\n
When I was in my twenties, speaking about abortion in \u201cfree speech\u201d zones at USC, UCLA, Cal State Long Beach, and other campuses wasn\u2019t something I thought twice about. Even when hundreds gathered and campus police showed up, I had no fear of being shot for exercising free speech. Spit on? Yes. Screamed at? Absolutely. Shot? No.<\/p>\n