On November 30th, a “Montreal Massacre Memorial 2013” event is being held in Vancouver to remember the victims of the massacre at l’Ecole Polytechnique, and to seek ways to end violence against women. It’d be the kind of thing I’d be happy to promote, if it weren’t poisoned with this: sponsor Vancouver Rape Relief (VRR) has invited Janice Raymond to provide a lecture entitled “Prostitution: Not a Job, not a Choice” — hijacking the very real and urgent problem of violence against women, to try to win support for the abolition of sex work. Raymond also has a long history of transphobia which is well-detailed below (along with VRR’s own transphobic history), and resulted in a long and bitter rift between trans and feminist movements. — M
El Feministo posted the following letter at Babble, the message board at Rabble.ca:
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18 November 2013
To Vancouver Public Library management and board, Vancouver Rape Relief management, collective, and board, and to members, donors, and volunteers with both organizations:
I am writing regarding Vancouver Rape Relief’s (VRR’s) intent to host Janice Raymond at their “Montreal Massacre Memorial 2013” event hosted by Vancouver Public Library (VPL) on Nov. 30, 2013. Ms. Raymond is to deliver a talk titled “Prostitution: Not a Job, not a Choice”. Further to Raymond’s controversial stance on prostitution, you are likely aware of Raymond’s notorious stance toward transgendered people, too. I am requesting that space be made available to both transgender communities and sex work communities to respond to Ms. Raymond when she speaks at VPL.
Ms. Raymond is infamous for suggesting that “medicalized transsexualism represents only one more aspect of patriarchal hegemony” and arguing that transgendered people should be morally mandated “out of existence”. She also wrote Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery, for the US Government, which led to the elimination of US federal and state aid for indigent and imprisoned transsexual persons – legislation which some speculate facilitated the deaths of already-marginalized trans persons. Raymond’s opinions on prostitution are similarly controversial, and widely criticized: her testimony in Bedford v. Canada was judged not to be credible. Her promotion of the belief that “legalization or decriminalization of prostitution … promotes trafficking” has been widely debunked and policies based on this mistaken assumption (like the USA’s PEPFAR legislation, until it was struck down by the US Supreme Court) have been shown to have harmful effects.
Meanwhile, VRR’s negativity toward transgender people is well-documented in coverage of VRR’s dispute with Kim Nixon in the 1990s. However, you may not know that VRR continues to perpetuate this conflict, with VRR insinuating “real woman” discourse into UBC’s recent Take Back the Night event. VRR collective member (and de facto leader) Lee Lakeman’s recent defamation of Ms. Nixon in the form of public accusation of felony theft continues VRR’s aggression toward transgender people – a politics of exclusion reified into a praxis of hate (to this day, VRR argues that transgender is not an identity, but rather, say VRR, “it is really an insidious form of paralyzing liberalism which translates into ultraconservatism in action”). Moreover, VRR’s ideological bond with Raymond’s politics is reflected in VRR’s role as the home of the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres (CASAC), authors of a 2013 statement which prioritizes the elimination of sex work over all other women’s issues.
Whereas VPL intends to host an event sponsored by VRR, featuring Raymond, I refer you to VPL’s policy, which “is responsible for working with its communities to create services that diverse communities identify as respectful, inclusive, and accessible” with specific regard to “sexual orientation, gender identity,” etc. In light of this policy, I am asking both VPL and VRR to ensure that Janice Raymond’s presence at VPL includes the voices of the communities that she and VRR excludes. I am appealing to the Library’s Diversity and Inclusion Statement (referenced above) as well as to theLibrary’s meeting room policy, which in turn refers to the BC Human Rights Code. I believe the latter’s clause on “discriminatory publication” applies to any statements made during this event.
To be clear, this is not an attempt to censor or censure VRR or Raymond. To the contrary, I invite VRR to step inclusively into the realm of civil society rather than continuing to privilege the purity of your particular voice at the expense of the people you exclude. Inviting a dialogue between Raymond and the people she speaks against so stridently would be a step toward dissipating the pain and harm that Raymond’s views have caused to so many people.
Finally, I would like to emphasize that this request is motivated by values promoting civic discourse in a vibrant public sphere. I respect VRR’s right and privilege to mount this event, but showcasing a speaker who many people believe to be guilty of hate speech is inconsistent with these values, both generally and as reflected in VPL’s policies.
Respectfully,
El Feministo
Dented Blue Mercedes 