Trans Counterprotesters Win by Default in Victoria

The 1 Million March for Children from last month promised to return in force today, all across Canada, so trans rights activists and supporters were bracing themselves for the worst as they planned their own events. In Victoria at least, nothing like the worst materialised and the 1 Million Voices for Inclusion rally at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia unfolded without incident.

[At the request of the lead organisers, I’ve minimised exposure for counterprotesters during this event by avoiding pictures of people’s faces, which of course means less material than usual, starting with no video. There’s been a doxxing war going strong between factions since last month and there was no point feeding the opposing side material to be used against us.]

There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the rallies as cancellations on both sides threw all planning into chaos. The most notable announcement was from Hands Off Our Kids, which pulled out of many cities across the country in the aftermath of the Gaza campaign. On the other side, the Surrey counterprotest was cancelled at the last minute over safety issues, redirecting people to the Vancouver rally. There were also calls from anti-SOGI protesters to forget Victoria and go to Nanaimo instead, allegedly because they had been severely outnumbered last time. As if it weren’t enough, a small group planned to show up in support of Palestine. So nobody knew what to expect today, especially here in Victoria.

From my standpoint, that was only the beginning of surprises. When the lead organiser for the 1 Million Voices for Inclusion rally called for volunteers earlier this week, I proposed myself as slave labour; instead I would find myself attending the organising committee Zoom meeting within the hour. While I didn’t chicken out, I have to admit it unfolded more rapidly than expected, and so did a few more of our group I chatted with today.

Although organising discussions in this context are clearly confidential, I at least want to share my impressions of the ad hoc group I joined. Some of them were clearly veterans (even though they disagree with my assessment), well organised and coordinated with other groups, with an extensive intelligence network, and they knew what they were doing. I didn’t contribute much overall, only stepping in when they had a question whose answer couldn’t be looked up on Google, such that only a nolife attending most rallies in town would know about it.

Our primary concern for this event was safety. We all wanted to avoid a repeat of last event where the crowd was highly confrontational and police officers had to form double ranks between factions to prevent a brawl. So the formula was toned down to discourage close proximity. We even had a safety team whose role was to stand between factions to prevent any escalation. We also had a first aid attendant just in case.

We arrived very early in the morning to hold the high ground, working on the assumption that the million marchers would show up anyway. The police showed up early as well, in fewer numbers than last time but still an impressive 15 officers. Notably, its modus operandi was very different from previous rallies. They immediately approached us our group and mingled, with the manifest intent of getting friendly with us, a tactic which turned out to be moderately successful, although it personally crept me out. It would be like this throughout the event, small groups of cops engaging with protesters trying to get on friendly terms instead of using intimidation. I’ll give them points for trying.

While we were on the lookout for the anti-SOGI protesters, other factions showed up, such as of course the communists, trying to blend in with the “trans rights are workers’ rights” slogan which as usual screamed of attention grabbing. We welcomed them of course, with reservations. It had already been decided there would be strict control over the microphone anyway—no open mic today, thank you.

By the time the event proper started, the Legislature precincts would also attract the predictable Freedom Convoyers, plus a small group of Palestinian supporters. But still no anti-SOGI protesters.

We had shorter speeches this time, mostly by trans people telling their stories of coming out, telling about being afraid, about being confused, about being kept in the dark as they grew up in a world that seemed at best content to ignore their angst, at worst hell bent on denying their existence in every sense of those words. To them, SOGI is synonymous with acceptance, a paper-thin sliver of hope that they can navigate this world without fear of discrimination and persecution, in a world that is often overtly hostile toward them.

I was trying to pay attention, but actually some anti-SOGI did show up, just a sparse few trying to blend in and observe, and as part of the safety team my role was to keep an eye on them and report. Fortunately there were no scuffles. It’s not like half a dozen of them could take on over two hundreds of us, although I did witness arrests at protests for less.

After speeches gave way to cheerful music, some protesters then lined up within metres of the Freedom Convoyers in an act of provocation, since some of the anti-SOGI found refuge there, but this time there were no derives. Besides, there were so many police officers in the mix that no sensible person would have engaged the other faction. Meanwhile, the lead organisers decided to pack up a bit early, purportedly over safety concerns but perhaps in relief instead that none of the foreboding came to pass.