Vancouver Holds First Event Critical of Gender Ideology in Four Years

And Kathleen Stock!

On March 21, I flew to Vancouver to attend Feminists Speak Out, a fantastic event held by the Vancouver Lesbian Collective to speak about the harms of gender ideology. I’m a little travel-weary at this point and was initially on the fence about making the trip, but I am so glad I decided to go for it.

The event went smoothly and there were no protesters to speak of, which is something I know many attendees were worried about. I didn’t expect any issues, as the strategy of not releasing the event location ahead of time has been a successful one for many events I have attended now. This way, activists don’t have the opportunity to harass the venue and don’t have the time to mobilize.

It’s a shame we have to do this kind of thing, but it does seem to work.

Happily, I got to meet a lot of people that I either was acquainted with online or that knew who I was and took the time to introduce themselves. Since I was a spectator and not a speaker this time, I did not expect to be recognized! But I truly appreciate everyone who said hi. It made it feel that much more worthwhile to have made the trip out.

As for the content of the event itself: it was clear that the organizers and the first two speakers were coming from an explicitly radical feminist perspective. This is not the lens I use—in fact, I feel that pretty much all of my intellectual and emotional sensibilities are opposed to the radical feminist lens, and the more I am exposed to it, the more I feel this way. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this being the perspective of the event. Radical feminists were the first to identify the problems of gender ideology and to speak out against it. They've also received the brunt of the rage from trans activists. Putting on an event like this was an act of bravery.

Personally, I thought Cherry Smiley was an engaging and intelligent speaker with a unique and important perspective. I am also convinced that if she knew who I was and what my opinions were, she would have publicly shamed me right there and then (as she did another woman).

Kathleen Stock, of course, was as amazing as always. She gave an overview of the current state of gender ideology, mostly in the UK but generally as well.

A highlight of the trip for me was that I did get to meet Kathleen Stock outside of the event. Our schedules were tight but she graciously made time for me and we got to chat about various things. If you think she’s cool (who doesn’t???), trust me, she is even better one-on-one in person. She is funny, kind, and super down-to-earth, and I’m grateful she saw fit to give me the time of day.

I also have to give a special shoutout to the wonderful Karin Litzcke who I also got to meet for the first time in person and who helped me and my travel companion get around. It has been an exciting and overwhelming month and I may have just collapsed somewhere in Vancouver without her!

I’m hoping I don’t have another reason to fly for a good, long time, but I am happy for a number of reasons that I made it out to this. It was an important event that, I think, along with Reality Based Women Unite! in Toronto earlier this month, signals the start of a new era in the pushback against gender ideology in Canada.