Right, I promised that my next post (this one) would cover transfeminism, and intersectional feminist theory. But then this shit happened. So that’s delayed, sorry yet again.
Toronto Public Library has been criticised for refusing to cancel an event hosting a feminist with controversial (to the general public) views on transgender rights. The feminist concerned is writer Meghan Murphy, who is an anti-transgender er, person, a charge which she denies. The bitch-fiend (sorry, person) in question has spoken out against a bill that amended Canada's rights act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender expression and identity, over concerns it could undermine women's rights by eroding their "safe spaces". She says she wants to ensure the safety of women in places like female prisons, women's refuges and changing rooms (but she’s not anti-transgender?).
According to the Beeb (that’s the BBC to those not blessed to be born in the UK or Ireland):
“Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a branch of the Toronto Public Library as writer Meghan Murphy gave a talk inside.
The library defended its decision to allow her talk on gender identity and 'society, the law and women’".
Toronto police quoted by Global News said officers had been present inside and outside the event to "keep the peace."
Global News reporter Kamil Karamali tweeted that attendees were escorted by police out the back of the building when the talk ended.
So, who is Ms. Meghan “Scumbag” Murphy (that can’t be an ad hominem attack, really, she’s a woman 😁)? She believes the transgender activist movement is "regressive and sexist" and ignores women and girls. "Under current trans activist doctrine we're not allowed to exclude a man from a woman's space if he says that he's female and I find that quite dangerous and troubling," she told the BBC. Well I find that quite dangerous and troubling.
Judith Taylor, from University of Toronto's Women and Gender Studies Institute, calls Ms. “Bastard” Murphy "basically a provocateur".
She thinks that Ms. “Arsewipe” Murphy, in asserting the rights of one group "is implicitly trying to side-line another" and disagrees with Ms. “Fuckwit” Murphy that safe spaces and diversity cannot coexist.
"The more that we start embracing that diversity the better our learning and the better our strength," she said. I likeses Judith Taylor, AKA the voice of reason.
Opponents to the library's decision include Toronto Mayor John Tory, who has called it "disappointing". An online petition started by three local authors calling for the event to be cancelled had more than 8,000 signatures by Tuesday. Those who signed it said they would no longer participate in library events if Ms. “Evil Fiend” Murphy's talk went ahead. Pride Toronto, the organisation behind the city's annual pride festival, warned the library "there will be consequences to our relationship for this betrayal". It said in a statement that Ms. “Monkey Brain” Murphy's views are "a denial of the lives, experiences and identities of trans people".
Early this year, a similar talk that included Ms. “Pissant” Murphy at a public library in Vancouver drew both protesters and a sold-out crowd. The library was later barred from participating in the city's pride parade.
She was also banned from Twitter for stating that "men aren't women" and for "misgendering" transgender women on the site. She has taken legal action against the company.
So, as I said before:
“That trans women's femaleness (rather than only their femininity) is a source of transmisogyny is denied by certain radical feminists, who state that trans women are not female (I am most certainly not one of them).”
Meghan Murphy is most certainly one of them.
Now I promise faithfully that my next post will cover transfeminism and intersectional feminist theory, even if something else happens, like Trump declares himself President for Life, or @luciloser proposes to me¹.
¹Better get started on that post quickly then, ‘cos I’ll break the promise if option two happens.