We have endured many instances of censorship when it comes to conservative speech. The Left has systematically labeled virtually every position that conservatives hold as either “bigoted” or “racist.” Leftists also can enforce their tyranny of thought because they dominate the institutions — even institutions like a 4-H equestrian competition hosted by Washington State University.

4-H is the largest youth development organization in the U.S., and it is by no means a right-wing organization. This is immediately obvious when reading about its focus on “ensuring access and equity for all” and “creating safe, diverse and inclusive environments.”

The four Hs are Head, Heart, Hands, and Health, and when applied to horses, kids display specific horsemanship skills including grooming. Which leads to the meat of the controversy. A team of young teen girls (ages 15) all were participating in a 4-H groom squad competition. When they arrived, they discovered that their team could earn extra points if they had team shirts. They bought team shirts at a booth at the fair where the competition was taking place, donned them, and began getting ready for the competition. The shirts were black T-shirts with the slogan “My Pronouns Nor/mal.”

Not long after getting ready, the teens were approached by 4-H official Brian Brandt, who began chastising them about their choice of team shirt.

Brandt informed the girls that their shirts were offensive and targeted a minority community. He insisted that these shirts were against the state laws on discrimination and harassment. His final argument was that the shirts could make someone with different pronouns feel abnormal. He did all this without their parents being present.

The situation quickly changed as one of the girl’s fathers came over to investigate what was going on. According to a statement made to the 4-H organization by Sydney Smith: “Almost immediately after my dad came over to see what was going on, another parent (not involved with us, or the situation) involved herself in the conversation and started yelling and pointing at me, telling me I had no business wearing that shirt and I needed to take it off. I was scared and felt harassed and discriminated against by both Brian Brandt and the other parent. I felt very unsafe with them and still do. For the rest of the fair, I made sure I was never alone and had one of my friends or parents with me or close by.”

Brandt’s bungling wasn’t done. He also approached one of the mothers, Donna Person Smith, later in the day, displeased that these girls had a photo of their shirts up on Facebook. He told Smith to take down the post. In an interview after the fact, Smith said: “It was not a blanket rule that there are no ‘words’ or ‘pronouns’ on shirts, just that he gets to decide which ‘words’ or ‘pronouns’ are allowed. This is not only unfair, it is a violation of my daughter’s right to free speech and free expression. Brian Brandt specifically targeted these girls because of his personal interpretation and opinion about the shirts — not based on any actual rule violation.”

Other people at the competition publicly complained on social media. Brandt responded to these complaints, insinuating that the girls purposely adorned these shirts to make the event less safe for LGBTQ+ people. Essentially, he placed a target on the back of these teen girls and, as many have found out, the gender cultists are among the most violent and horrible bullies there are.

This blatant censorship of free speech and freedom of expression is just the latest attack on conservative viewpoints. To make a public example of teenage girls and to act like their shirts were acts of violence is ridiculous and frankly deranged. What else is new from the gender ideologues? They don’t argue; they bully. They don’t debate; they make public examples of. These girl flaunted their conservative ideology and must be punished.

Frankly, people who behave this way toward children, putting them directly in the line of fire from the worst people there are, should forfeit their right to be around children. Period.

On the other hand, this tantrum about the shirts isn’t surprising. These teens were at a 4-H event, which seems to be a very left-leaning organization. That event was hosted by Washington State University — hardly the bastion of conservative thinking. It by no means justifies the attacks that the girls and their parents suffered, but considering their location and the organization, it’s not unexpected.

One can only hope these girls and their parents stick to their guns and continue to fight for their rights to free speech and freedom of expression. Lord knows 4-H certainly won’t apologize for putting these girls in danger.