LGBT+

Meghan Murphy speaks to sold-out crowd in Vancouver Public Library meeting room

by Charlie Smith on January 11th, 2019 at 8:13 AM
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      As protesters, including many trans activists, gathered outside Library Square with banners, the founder and editor of the Feminist Current shared her controversial opinions with a large audience inside the building.

      Meghan Murphy argues that gender is a social construct and that women are oppressed. Last year, she publicly opposed federal legislation making it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression.

      Bill C-16, a.k.a. An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code, was passed by Parliament and received royal assent.

      It added protections for trans people under laws governing hate speech.

      Murphy's objections to this legislation—shared by staff at Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter—have generated a major backlash over Twitter and other social media among the trans community and its allies.

      This conflict was not only on display at the Vancouver Public Library's central branch, where Murphy spoke to about 300 people in the Alice Mackay Room about gender identity and women's rights.

      But it has also played out over social media.

      Here are some of the posts that have been shared in connection with the event: