A conservative Christian group at the University of South Alabama (USA) is speaking out after a sex toy bingo night was held on campus, despite receiving threats.
Planned Parenthood's Generation Action, a student-led "reproductive freedom" group, hosted the game night on January 20, giving away sex toys for prizes.
Joshua Smith, a biology major and senior at USA, is a part of the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) group.
"We promote conservative ideas through activism on campus," Smith told 1819 News. "So, we're pro-life, anti-socialism, pro-Second Amendment, things like that."
After hearing about the event, YAF reached out to Generation Action and university officials to ask how it was approved. Smith said after the inquiry, Generation Action changed the event's name, but it went on as planned.
Smith and three others attended the bingo night to ask participants whether the event was appropriate. They were unable to ask questions because they were heckled and quickly identified as "straight white Christian males."
Still, Smith said he wanted to expose what was going on, so he recorded what he saw.
"There were some groups around us, and one of them said, 'If they win, we're going to get them," Smith said. "I don't know exactly what that meant, but then, as we were leaving, a lot of the students were hissing at us like cats. Then, when we made it to our cars, they started cussing at us, insulting us and booing at us."
The video shows the YAF members saying, "Goodnight," and "God Bless y'all." That's when the other students respond by saying, "Get a f-cking life," and "I'm f-cking your momma right now."
The anger didn't end there. On the anonymous college social media platform Yik Yak, more insults and threats were posted.
"They called us MAGATS, and said, 'If they come to another Generation Action meeting, we're going to, quote, 'Beat their A-S-S hard," Smith said.
The USA Student Center webpage states the center offers a welcome environment "where students and visitors can feel safe to explore, lead, and thrive. "
According to the USA's events management policy, prohibited items at campus events include tobacco, alcohol and firearms. Only events targeting an audience under 19 must provide additional documentation, such as waivers and background checks. However, Smith said he did not notice anyone checking the age of those in attendance, and he was concerned some may have been under the legal age to possess genitalia stimulating devices.
"I think it being a public institution, there should be like a level of decorum that we meet that's not overtly sexual or overtly promoting things like that," Smith said.
Smith said even some faculty at the university questioned how the event was approved.
"I think that the fact that the school recognized that they had to change their branding showed that they had, to some degree, known that it was wrong and they don't want to have that reflected on their campus," he added.
Thanks to YAF, Smith said he will continue to stand strong for conservative values.
"It's just good to know that there are people with similar values to me and similar beliefs that are willing to actually go out and present those things and aren't scared about the condemnation that comes with doing that," he said.
1819 News has reached out to the University of South Alabama and Generation Action.
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