by Cincy Kem
Image: Protest postcard. Message on the flip-side: “Sex is real and consequential. And that's no joke. Gender identity ideology is conflicting with women's sex-based rights and protections. For more information, visit http://cawsbar.ca”
Led by Heather Mason, an advocate for women in prison and a founder of Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar), the disguised demonstrators paraded along Wellington Street, energized by honks of support and positive fist-pumps of passers by. The iconic national landmarks dedicated to rule-making provided meaningful backdrops for photo opportunities along the way. The seasonal drizzle further emphasized the sombre impetus for the march: to raise public awareness of the current federal regime that enables any individual to identify and be treated as a member of the opposite sex.
Unsurprisingly, this legal and policy framework is now blatantly abused by violent male offenders, including a child rapist, who may be placed or transferred to women’s prisons upon their declaration of “woman-ness.” Mason can readily name 11 such criminals presently held in Canadian women’s prisons and word is getting out about the harassment and attacks perpetrated by these gender-fakers upon the incarcerated women with whom they now share prison cells and housing quarters.
The decision not to publicize or notify media of the demonstration was made following the rapid mobilization earlier in the month of a sizeable mob of local transgender-rights activists against a solitary man with a sandwich board who opposes medical transition of children. “We wanted to get our message out to the public and on social media without the histrionics and violence we’ve seen at other counter-protests,” says Mason. “When a man who suddenly identifies as a transwoman is given special treatment that places actual women and children in danger, we have a conflict. When the public is prevented from seeing and understanding the repercussions of giving men access to spaces reserved and designed for the safety of women, we have a disaster.”
To date, there has been little-to-no meaningful mainstream media coverage of a number of protests held outside of Women’s federal prisons since March of this year, in spite of notice being provided to them in advance. In fact, a recent opinion piece published by the nation’s public broadcaster characterizes women’s opposition to the laws and policies that are directly endangering them as a “misinformation campaign.”
A century ago, five trailblazing women fought for and were granted the right as “persons” under the law to become members of the Senate of Canada. Today, under Canada’s Liberal government, the Senate is passing laws that are resulting in the abuse of women and children and the eradication of women’s sex-based Charter rights.
All photos in this article courtesy of caWsbar.
See caWsbar’s Twitter photo essay on the demonstration: https://twitter.com/cawsbar/status/1455176926516101126?t=x8EHbGxzhRrqCnGRLXGI7g&s=19
Related protest coverage:
By Karen Findlay, Women are Human
By April Neault, Women’s Liberation Radio News (Youtube)
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