Professor Watchlist

Arizona State University Professor David Boyles—who wrote, “Sex education is a topic I’ve been obsessed with for a while”—appeared to physically assault a Turning Point USA Frontlines cameraman.  

TPUSA’s Frontlines team confronted Boyles after learning that he founded the Arizona chapter of Drag Queen Story Hour. Boyles refused to respond to the Frontlines reporter who asked how long he’d had the obsession with sex education and why he felt children should be exposed to drag queens.

The video of Boyles assaulting the cameraman can be viewed below:

🚨ASU Professor assaults TPUSA cameraman, caught on video 🚨

Our TPUSA Frontlines reporter tried to ask self-professed “sex education obsessed” queer ASU Professor David Boyles, a few simple questions. Refusing to answer, our cameras caught the exact moment Mr. Boyles assaulted,… pic.twitter.com/YJWBEzSgRx

— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) October 13, 2023

Security camera footage shows Boyles initiating physical contact:

Following the attack of the TPUSA staff member, Boyles posted the following statement on his Facebook page:

According to AZ Free News, “Boyles accused the TPUSA men of terrorism for filming him while asking him questions…Boyles also stated on Instagram that he was jumped from behind by the TPUSA reporter.”

AZ Free News also reported, “The Arizona Republic claimed in its headline that Boyles was targeted in a campus garage for his sexuality. The original headline read: ‘Targeted’: ASU Investigating After Queer Instructor Confronted by Turning Point USA ‘Crew.’”

12 News reports the incident from another angle as seen below:

Turning Point USA said in a statement:

 Our team fully intends to share this footage with local law enforcement, and if our cameraman decides to press criminal charges against Professor Boyle, we will fully support that decision. @FrontlinesTPUSA

 

Updated – October 19, 2023

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David Boyles is a Professor of English Writing at Arizona State University (ASU). His “areas of expertise” include but are not limited to “Rhetoric,” “Public Communication,” and “Gender Studies.”

AZ Free News featured Boyles in an article titled “Meet the ASU Professor Behind Arizona’s Drag Queen Story Hour.” The source writes:

“Boyles established Drag Queen Story Hour-Arizona in 2019, a chapter of the national Drag Queen Story Hour organization…Boyles has been featured in several ‘The Art of Drag’ events alongside one of his drag queen storytellers…The most recent event occurred on Wednesday [September 20, 2023].  During the presentation, Boyles said that the notion that drag shows are harmful to children was a ‘myth.’ He also said that drag queens have been long considered the leaders of LGBTQ+ communities.”

During “The Art of Drag” talk, Boyles claimed Drag Queen Story Hour-Arizona has been “targeted by acts of violence” and “neo-Nazis showing up to disrupt events.” He also presented what he believed to be the beginning of drag culture in America using the newspaper clip featured below:

On May 16, 2023, Boyles published a blog – “Queer Joy Summer Planting #3: Promote Radical Queer Sex Education” – in which he stated he was “trying to plant more queer joy in the world.” He also said:

“Sex education is a topic I’ve been obsessed with for a while…In 2021, I did a three-part ‘Queering Sex Ed’ series on the history of sex education in America and the ways in which it has traditionally erased queer people, as well as the ways in which queer people have resisted this erasure and cared for their communities by creating their own sex ed underground.”

In the “Queer Sex Ed” blog, Boyles also wrote that sex education has been traditionally racist since “black people and immigrants were typically viewed as being sexually promiscuous and aggressive and sex education was designed to keep good white kids from being ‘infected’ by them.”

In another publication promoting his Drag Queen Story Hour initiative, Boyles said:

Published October 3, 2023