North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 18, 2016 Page: 3 of 12
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PROTEST
NTDAILY.COM | PAGE 3
Denton citizens rally against threat of Return of Kings group
Political science senior Billy Poer holds up his homemade sign at the Return of Kings protest. Erica Wieting | Features Editor
By Erica Wieting
Features Editor
@ericawootang
When self-proclaimed “pro-
rape” and neo-masculine
organization Return of Kings
circulated plans to meet and
assemble in Denton as part of an
international movement, town
residents and UNT students
alike were quick to respond
with a protest of their own.
The group of about 20
concerned citizens and
students gathered Feb. 6 next
to the Confederate statue on
the Denton Square. Not a single
ROK member was in sight, as
far as attendees could tell, but
the absence of the all-male
coalition didn’t mean its cause
was gone.
ROK members had publically
cancelled their meet-up because
of protests organized against
them in various locations
where they had planned to
convene, but they continued to
communicate through pages on
their website.
“When I was in high school
and I was learning about
feminism, I found one of the
Return of Kings articles that
had gone really viral. It was
something about, ‘Why to date
a girl with an eating disorder,”’
English junior and Feminist
Majority Leadership Alliance
special events coordinator Amy
Vina said. “That was the first
time I can really remember
misogyny not being an abstract
concept to me anymore,
knowing that there were people
that hated me and that wanted
to hurt me.”
ROK creator Roosh
Valizadeh officially founded
the group in 2012. Since using
what he called “Game” and
“Pickup” in a February 2015
interview with A Voice for
Men to “get laid regularly.”
Valizadeh has published at least
three websites and more than 16
books.
“The more media attention
they get, they’ll just get more
active and make people aware
of what’s going on, so we need
to get them out of mainstream
media,” said political science
senior Billy Poer, who attended
the protest with a handwritten
poster that read, “This is not
Denton,” “#RapeIsNotOkay”
and “#ConsentIsSexy.”
The ROK website currently
reaches over 1.5 million page
visits per month, according to
Similar Web analytics.
“That type of rhetoric does
breed in our culture,” Vina said.
“I think it does impact young
men specifically. Even if we
don’t see a direct action from
this group, it’s putting speech
out there, saying these ugly
things and facilitating these
hateful, dangerous thoughts.”
Denton criminal defense
attorney Tim Powers said he
was unaware of the exclusively
male association until recently,
when he read a news article
about their recent plans to
gather.
“In some jurisdictions they
may need to get parade permits
or assembly permits,” Powers
said. “But those are given to
other organizations that maybe
a lot of people don’t agree
with, such as the neo-Nazis
and things like that. The Ku
Klux Klan have made public
protests before, and although
many people find those ideals
not constant with their own
thinking, they certainly do have
a right to assemble.”
A Facebook event started
by sociology sophomore
Christina Bridges, titled
“#ThisIsNotDenton,” garnered
more than 600 positive RSVPs
from outraged and concerned
people who cared about the
cause.
Calloway’s Nursery
employee and former UNT
sociology student Drew
Hairston, who was at the
protest, said he discovered the
event when a friend invited him
to it on Facebook.
“[The Internet] can be used
to get a good, positive message
out there,” Hairston said. “But
it’s also an easy tool for the
Return of Kings and other
websites to get their message
out to a wide audience.”
Poer described the Kings’
failed meet-up as a “day of
action,” and said the group’s
most recent incitement
propelled them into the public
eye and granted them more
recognition than they should
be given. Acknowledgement of
their existence, he said, only
perpetuates the cause they’re
trying to promote.
“[The meet-up] gave them
national, and even worldwide,
recognition,” Poer said. “I
think the reaction to them was
absolutely right. Their ideas
shouldn’t be allowed to spread.”
Valizadeh has advocated
for the legalization of rape on
private properties, proposing in
a 2015 blog post on his personal
website that the “violent taking
of a woman” should “not [be
made] punishable by law when
off public grounds.”
“The most dangerous thing
about them is that their ideas
aren’t new,” Vina said. “Rape
was legal on private property for
a very long time, and that was
a large element of how society
was maintained for hundreds of
years. They’re trying to bring
us back to something that hurts
people.”
A post on the ROK site
from 2013 titled “Three Signs
she’s Making a False Rape
Accusation” claims that women
who say they failed to report
rape right away due to shame
or humiliation are voicing
“complete bullshit,”
The same article is suspicious
of any woman claiming to
have been raped by a known
assailant stating “a man looking
to rape someone would not pick
a target who could identify
him to the police.” According
to the Rape, Abuse and Incest
National Network, 80 percent
of rape cases are committed by
someone close to the victim.
“This entitlement to sex and
women’s bodies, that already
exists, and that needs to stop,”
anthropology junior and FMLA
secretary Kathryn Jimenez
said. “It’s not just strangers in
bushes all the time. It’s people
who are known to the victim,
and making it legal on private
property just means that they
could get away with it.”
In the aftermath of ROK’s
threatened meet-up and the
resulting protest, many citizens
have expressed feelings of
concern while others have
found the task of brushing off
the group’s existence to be a
relatively simple one.
“It’s absolutely ludicrous,”
Powers said. “Sexual assault
is typically a state charge as
opposed to a federal law charge.
I can’t see any legislature in
this country watering down
abusive charges [for anybody],
whether it be women or men in
that situation.”
Whether the group of neo-
masculine advocates will
redouble their efforts remains
to be seen, but Denton residents
are staying vigilant.
“This is not something we’re
going to allow to happen,”
Hairston said. “This is Denton.
This is who we really are, and
this is what we stand for, which
is equality, safety, love and
compassion.”
COMMENCEMENT
2012 Soldier of the Year to speak at
Spring commencement ceremony
By Evan McAlister
Staff Writer
@evan_McAlister
UNT announced Wednesday
that former Army Sgt. Steven
Davidson will be the keynote
speaker at this year’s mass
commencement ceremony.
As a UNT alumnus and the
2012 “Army Times” Soldier
of the Year, Davidson will
deliver his speech at the end
of the three-day university-
wide commencement
celebration.
“It is absolutely incredible
to come back and thank the
faculty who believed in,”
Davidson said in a press
release. “I hope that in
coming back I can honor
those who took a chance on
me and that I can inspire
others to trust their gut.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
spoke at last year’s ceremony
and was met with a less than
enthusiastic response from
students. With more than
4,000 students graduating
last spring only 300 to
400 students showed up to
Abbott’s speech.
While at UNT, Davidson
mentored students, spoke to
young people about bullying
and used his connections to
advocate for veterans and
young adults to get involved
with their communities,
according to a university
press release. After his
White House internship in
the executive office of the
president, Davidson was
appointed to his current
position as the special
assistant to the assistant
secretary for Fossil Energy.
“There is nothing more
powerful than hearing from
one of our own about his
path to success and how
a college education from
UNT helped him achieve
his dreams,” UNT president
Neal Smatresk said.
Davidson joined the army
in 2009 and was deployed
to East Africa in 2011
for Operation Enduring
Freedom. During a 10-day
French-run desert warfare
course in 120-degree
heat, Davidson saved a
fellow service man’s life.
Remembering his sports
medicine training from high
school, Davidson ripped the
soldier’s clothing into strips,
which he then soaked m the
small amount of water that
remained in attempt to cool
the soldier’s body.
“I am honored that Sgt.
Davidson is returning to
his alma mater to inspire
fellow graduates with
insight he’s gained from
his transformation as
a struggling student to
a college graduate and
distinguished soldier with
an incredibly bright future,”
Smatresk said.
Sgt. Steven Davidson will be the keynote speaker at this year’s commencement ceremony. Courtesy | UNT
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Friedman, Nicholas. North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 18, 2016, newspaper, February 18, 2016; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth861389/m1/3/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.