Dildos descend on UT Austin in 'Cocks Not Glocks' protest of guns on campus

A group calling itself Gun Free UT protests the campus carry law on the steps of the main building (tower) on the University campus Wednesday August 24, 2016. A group calling itself Gun Free UT protests the campus carry law on the steps of the main building (tower) on the University campus Wednesday August 24, 2016. Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News Photo: John Davenport, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 86 Caption Close Dildos descend on UT Austin in 'Cocks Not Glocks' protest of guns on campus 1 / 86 Back to Gallery

Surrounded by a sea of of dildos, the organizer of the Cocks not Glocks protest at the University of Texas at Austin spoke Wednesday to hundreds of students and supporters carrying sex toys through campus in opposition to Senate Bill 11, which allows those with concealed handgun licenses to carry at public universities.

"It seems that I have cracked an enormous dick joke on the internet," said Jessica Jin, speaking of the protest she launched all the way back in October 2015 that is now being heralded as possibly the largest anti-gun protest in Texas history.

Students armed themselves with sex toys, specifically dildos, on the first day of class as reporters and camera crews flooded the West Mall at noon. Photos of students strapped with the plastic phalluses began circling of social media days before and the morning of, using the hashtag, #CocksNotGlocks.

RELATED: 100-year-old photos show life at UT before the hoopla

Jin did not prepare a speech for the big day—she was too tired from carrying 55-pound boxes of sex toys around all week in preparation for the protest that has brought The Daily Show to campus to film the flamboyant event.

"Let's put a dildo in the hands of every pissed off college student who hasn't been heard in this safety conversation," Jin said. "Strap it on, feel the discomfort, feel the weird looks. Wear it loud, wear it proud, and don't take them off until people take their guns home."

RELATED: Austinites turn out in droves for anti-gun 'mass farting' protest

The idea of "cocks, not glocks" was spawned when Jin realized her university's code of conduct prohibits obscene devices as it is defined in the Texas Penal Code. The Texas Penal Code defines obscene devices as anything "including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs."

And thus, a dildo-baring movement was born.

"You would receive a citation for taking a dildo to class before you would get in trouble for taking a gun to class," Jin wrote on the event page. "Heaven forbid the penis."

Jin said on the page that dildos are "just about as effective at protecting" students from "sociopathic shooters" as guns are.

RELATED: 'People want me dead for a dildo:' UT alumna behind 'Cocks not Glocks' protest

Thousands of dildos were passed out to students from various groups on campus and counter-protests have begun including one man who stood on the edge of campus holding a semi-automatic rifle and a sign emblazoned with an Adolf Hitler quote.

John Bird, director of media outreach for the university, told mySA.com Wednesday there would be no increased police presence on campus in light of the protest.

"I don't want to minimize the creative nature of this protest but it's not unusual for us to have a student protest on subjects that are highly charged," he said, adding the university has a strong, regular police presence and procedures for students who want to conduct a protest.

He said the protest so far is protected, political speech.

"We encourage our students to engage in free speech and debate issues of public policy," Bird said.

Students for Concealed Carry said Wednesday they had no problem with the dildo demonstration.

"If carrying a phallus to class helps you express yourself, go for it," Brian Bensimon, Texas state director for the group, said in a statement. "We welcome this demonstration that freedom of speech and concealed carry of handguns can coexist on the same campus"

The group is also selling items touting the phrase "coexist," forming what they call a "gun/dildo alliance."

It was an interesting first day of class, to say the least.

This article will be updated throughout the day with new photos and information from the protest.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5