The evening started with picnics, popsicles and pop music and ended with a piercing fire alarm, Soldiers of Odin and the arrival of the Oak Bay Police and Fire Department.
Transgender speaker and political critic Jenn Smith brought his anti-SOGI event, the Erosion of Freedom, to the Windsor Pavilion May 2 and was promptly met with the unrelenting opposition of Greater VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 LGBTQ+ community and its allies.
As he walked in, flanked by a small support staff, the bright and colourful crowd lifted its signs to the sky. B次元官网网址淪OGI SAVES LIVES,B次元官网网址� they chanted, repeating the phrase again and again until Smith disappeared inside the building.
But the protest didnB次元官网网址檛 stay outside. Protesters occupied the talk itself, holding hands at the front of the room with Pride flags draped over their shoulders, singing a Coast Salish warrior song. Eventually a fire alarm was pulled.
Jenn SmithB次元官网网址檚 talk was over before it started, which is exactly what he hoped for.
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The protests, tension and high emotion of the crowd was recorded and clipped into videos shared to YouTube where protesters were B次元官网网址榙oxedB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� their identities outed, and shamed.
| Protesters lined the room where the Erosion of Freedom event was supposed to take place. They created so much noise and commotion, the event was essentially cancelled. Since then video clips of protesters have been posted on alt-right Youtube and Facebook accounts. (Nina Grossman/B次元官网网址 Staff) |
Smith has taken to Facebook B次元官网网址� the place his supporters fester B次元官网网址� to share the footage, calling protesters B次元官网网址渇ree speech trampling spoiled rotten childrenB次元官网网址� and the protest an B次元官网网址渁ssault on freedom.B次元官网网址�
And its true that he never got a chance to share his earth-shattering thoughts on SOGI 123 with the room, which was instead overpowered by B次元官网网址渕onstersB次元官网网址� with noise makers and glitter rainbows on their cheeks.
In other words, the event, despite being a colossal failure at face value, has done everything Smith hoped it would.
So while his poster-making skills leave something to be desired, you canB次元官网网址檛 be fooled by the tactics of the B次元官网网址榝ree speechB次元官网网址� toting caricatures that flourish in the dark caverns of the web B次元官网网址� where the most vulnerable viewers are those with the niggling fear that something they are owed is being taken from them and their defenseless children B次元官网网址� seemingly ready to undergo gender reassignment surgery simply at the mention of the non-binary in a school setting.
For Smith, there is power and polarization in dissension B次元官网网址� and painting the LGBTQ+ community as a pitchfork-wielding, trigger-sensitive mob is exactly what he hopes will push people from indifference to B次元官网网址渁ctivism.B次元官网网址�
And with social media, it doesnB次元官网网址檛 matter if Smith makes an impact in Greater Victoria at all. The people who actually came to listen to him talk arenB次元官网网址檛 valuable to SmithB次元官网网址檚 bizarre travelling show B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 the sharing of bias-confirming video clips and comments that really propel his B次元官网网址渁ctivism.B次元官网网址�
But in the end, hundreds of people stood in solidarity that night and collectively, showed that their strength very much exists in the real world and can drown out hatred, in whatever form it takes on.
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nina.grossman@blackpress.ca
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