“Blatant hate speech”: Trans activists outraged by McGill University event they say promoted transphobia

More than a hundred trans rights advocates stormed into a McGill University event in Montreal Tuesday afternoon, they say it promoted transphobia and was led by a speaker associated with a group, that is transphobic. The event, ultimately cancelled shortly after it started, has activists asking why an event like this was given the green light to begin with.

“Would McGill platform in the event open with a speaker openly calling are anti-gay views? Would McGill ever host an event calling women to go back to the kitchen? Never!” says Celeste Trianon, a  Trans activist  and the lead organizer of Tuesday’s protest. 

Celeste Trianon, a Trans activist and the lead organizer of Tuesday’s protest, standing amid the crowd of over 100 individuals. (PHOTO CREDIT : Celeste Trianon/FB)

The event, hosted by McGill University’s Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism titled ‘Sex vs. Gender (Identity) Debate In the United Kingdom and the Divorce of LGB from T” was led by McGill alumni Robert Wintemute, who has ties to LGB Alliance a British group that advocates against transgender rights in the United Kingdom. 

Trianon describes the event as “blatant hate speech,” adding that it was geared towards hurting people. For students at McGill, the sentiment is shared. 

Jacob Williams, an undergraduate student at McGill University, who is also part of McGill’s Trans Patient Union, helped co-organize Tuesday’s protest. He says, seeing things like this happen is frustrating, “as a trans student to watch McGill platform someone like this on these issues…It seriously hurts our ability to feel comfortable in that space and to feel like we can trust the faculty.”

Wintemute in a statement to CityNews maintains that he does not “promote transphobia” and that he came to McGill with a message in support of Women Rights, and describes the events surrounding the protest as undemocratic, describing it as intimidation.

But for Trianon, Wintemute’s message is problematic. “it endangers students and staff and Trans people in general…every time Trans rights are rolled back, it can result in reduced life expectancies for Trans people,” she says. 

 Arwyn Regimbal, the Assistant Coordinator at McGill’s Trans Patient Union says, “The debate sends the message quite clearly that the protections that transgender people have in law are up for debate, and that’s for questioning. And, it perpetuates the notion of how are Trans and Non-Binary people meant to feel that they belong at McGill when the administration makes it clear that their legal protections are up for debate?”

 McGill University in a statement to CityNews say, “These events serve as a platform for critical conversations on topics that can be productively and robustly discussed in an academic setting. They are not an endorsement of any speaker’s views.” But for Trianon, thats not the case.  

“McGill by platforming event which actually talks about divorcing the LGB from the T is actively sponsoring and complicit in LGB alliance, and Robert Wintemute and with these views.

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