An event coming to Victoria later this month is being opposed by the Victoria 2SLGBTQIA+ community and its allies.
Between June 21st and 23rd, the event ‘We Unify 2024 Conference: Reclaiming Canada’ is slated to take place at the Victoria Conference Centre.
Since this conference was announced, some Victorians have risen up in opposition to it, saying the messaging behind the conference is harmful to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
However, We Unify says their mission in holding this conference is “to increase the amount of dialogue within our country with a focus on healing the polarizing divides that invariably have been shaped by a lack of discussion and treatment of the ‘other’ as an enemy.”
They claim the event will be welcoming to all people, regardless of background, ideology or affiliation.
1 Million Voices For Inclusion (1MVFI), a network of advocates for transgender and nonbinary people, do not believe this will be the case, based on who their featured speakers are at the conference.
1MVFI say they will address Victoria city council at this week’s meeting on Thursday, June 13th to demand that the City deny the We Unify group access to Victoria Conference Centre.
They say they are doing this in order to stop the spread of transphobia rhetoric.
“We Unify’s Reclaiming Canada conference features a lineup of concerning speakers having been flagged for hate speech against the 2SLGBTQIA+ community,” wrote a spokesperson for 1MVFI in a press release.
According to the 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy group, the speakers of concern to 1MVFI are:
- Lauren Southern – a provocateur banned from multiple countries
- Artur Pawlowski – notorious for his opposition to a ban on conversion therapy for homosexuals and protesting a rainbow crosswalk
- John Carpay – compared the rainbow flag to the swastika and denounced 2SLGBTQIA+ rights as authoritarianism
- Zuby – a vlogger known for performing a stunt mocking transgender people and his professed support of transphobe J.K. Rowling
- Drea Humphrey of RebelNews – makes a living by glorifying their likes
Related:
- Over 200 protesters gathered in Duncan to decry anti-trans panel discussion
- ‘We will not be intimidated’: Protest against Cowichan anti-trans event planned for this weekend
Recently, an open letter to the Union Club of British Columbia and the Victoria Conference Centre was written, asking them to deny the event from taking place. 1MVFI says that at the time of this publication, they have garnered 1,600 signatories in this initiative.
After receiving this letter, the Union Club responded by repudiating the organization, saying they have no association with the group or their messaging.
The City of Victoria followed up by issuing a statement that the Victoria Conference Centre is a public facility and is available to everyone.
“This stance contrasts with its Declaration of Ongoing Solidarity with Gender-Diverse Residents of Victoria, released last October, in which it ‘condemns any and all anti-SOGI mobilizations that seek to undermine the rights and dignity of gender-diverse individuals and their families within our city’ and ‘calls upon community leaders to denounce attacks on transgender and gender-diverse individuals,’” 1MVFI wrote.
1MVFI says this event could be particularly harmful to the trans and non-gender conforming residents of Victoria because according to Statistics Canada’s last census, Victoria has the most gender-diverse population in Canada.
In addition to this, a recent Ipsos poll suggests that general acceptance of queer people among Canadians has fallen from 61% to 49% in just three years.
“These statistics remind us that our journey is far from over,” said Ace Mann, President of the Victoria Pride Society.
“Inviting hate-fuelled rhetoric into our city, during Pride month, is dangerous. This event is not welcome in this city,” they continued.
This event in Victoria comes just a couple weeks after an event at the Cowichan Community Centre took place in which panellists spoke about how they believe the trans community is detrimental to women’s safety.
“As a community, we are responsible for creating safe, welcoming, and affirming spaces for everyone, regardless of gender identity or expression,” wrote 1MVFI.
“We believe that the Victoria Conference Centre needs to uphold the inherent rights of all Canadians to live free from persecution and violence and reconsider offering space to those who promote hate in any of its forms.”
This Thursday, June 13th, 1MVFI contributors and allies will gather at Centennial Square for a rally at 6 p.m., and then attend the city council meeting which begins at 6:30 p.m.
