Thirty trans rights activists answered the call of 1 Million Voices For Inclusion and rallied at Centennial Square to support two of their peers addressing the Victoria City Council demanding it deny transphobic We Unify a venue for its upcoming conference.
The demonstration follows a successful letter writing campaign by the organisation, which already succeeded at convincing the Union Club of British Columbia to repudiate the organisation for its dinner event preceding the conference proper. In contrast, the City of Victoria declined to follow suit, invoking its legal obligations to respect free speech under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Revelations pertaining to several of the conference’s speakers proved too outrageous for the general public to stomach, to the point that they convinced nearly 1900 signatories to reach out to the city, drew the ire of the of the Victoria Pride Society, and attracted considerable media coverage.
Two members of 1 Million Voices For Inclusion addressed the Council. The first one was… me. I primarily made a legal counterargument by invoking the BC Human Rights Code and the Criminal Code, while stressing out the city was reneging on its own commitment to “condemn any and all anti-SOGI mobilizations that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of gender-diverse individuals”, and to “call on community leaders to denounce the attacks on transgender and gender-diverse individuals”.
The second one was a 2-spirit advocate of the indigenous community, who made a strong parallel with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) to underline the perils faced by queer and transgender people when inflammatory rhetoric goes unchecked, and rejected the City’s stance as incompatible with its professed commitment to reconciliation.
As usual I am my own worst critic, never satisfied with my performance, but everyone around gave us both heartfelt praise as we walked away from the stand. My partner even had a long chat with Mayor Alto; I haven’t yet gotten to ask how the conversation went.
That being said, we do not expect the city to reverse its decision; consequently, we move forward with our plans to disrupt their events. Keep an eye on Instagram for announcements.
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