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 — 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.
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.
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 “violence is acceptable when ideas are challenged.”
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.
When I was in my twenties, speaking about abortion in “free speech” zones at USC, UCLA, Cal State Long Beach, and other campuses wasn’t 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.
Today, that has changed. We now see increasing use of government power against pro-life groups and Christians, particularly in states such as Colorado that have positioned themselves as abortion havens.
Just yesterday morning, Colorado’s House Minority Leader — a single mother of two — resigned, citing the hateful, toxic environment at the Capitol that mirrors the violence we see nationally. As the last Colorado Republican House Majority Leader in more than a decade, I have watched in horror as those elected to represent us are shouted down, gaveled out of order mid-debate, and labeled “hateful” for challenging issues like transgenderism. These debates matter because Colorado has slid to near the bottom in quality-of-life metrics over the past decade. The legislature is now a poster child for silencing dissent. And as increasingly militant voices in our culture have joined the ranks, the environment has become even more intolerant. Lobbyists tell me it is miserable to work there.
So, is it any wonder that while Charlie Kirk trained a new generation of leaders on campuses to respectfully debate the truths they believe — life, liberty, family and marriage — he would be targeted for it? His message was 180 degrees opposed to progressive ideologue professors who teach students that opposing speech is itself a threat and that violent responses are justified when their ideas are challenged. Like children plugging their ears and shouting “No, no, no,” only now it’s not tantrums — it’s bullets.
The gospel spread after the death of Jesus. His disciples picked up the mantle, even though those same forces wanted to kill them, too. That must be our example in light of Charlie Kirk’s death. We must continue speaking on college campuses. We must continue proclaiming the truth of life in the womb. We must continue helping women with unplanned pregnancies. And we must continue defending free speech at every turn — because warriors like Charlie Kirk showed us how.
Amy Stephens is the former Colorado House Majority Leader and works with Save the Storks in Colorado Springs.
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