Sponsored by the Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE), former Feminist Dr. Janice Fiamengo was due to speak at the University of Ottawa yesterday, March 28, about men’s issues and the double standards of Feminism. What was supposed to be a civil discussion turned into a mess as protesters decided to go beyond voicing their views to actively disrupt the event (again) in an incredibly immature fashion. The man in the above picture is waving a middle finger because he was not allowed to enter the room that the event was relocated to after protesters effectively drove attendees and organizers out of the first room.

This also marks the third time that Feminists & Friends have pulled a fire alarm while a lecture was in progress to disrupt and silence talks by men’s advocates at CAFE events. It is the next event in a long history of repression by campus totalitarians who think that the human rights to freedom of speech only apply to people like themselves. Let this be yet further evidence as to why attempting to “reason” with Feminists is impossible.

As usual, CAFE maintained the professional and moral high ground and was able to not only execute the event, but to also use the intolerance and narrow-mindedness of the protesters to gain the support of attendees who were previously undecided.

Video of the disruption here (notes below):

Timeline of events in this video:

• 1:46 –Protesters pound desks and blow horns continuously to disrupt the presentation.
• 4:50 – Protesters start arguing with attendees/organizers. Eruption of clapping/laughter at 5:21. Horn again at 5:45. Yelling by protesters. Security is called. Protester says “I have the right to make some noise” at 6:10 (the classic argument of “my suppression of others’ speech is my form of exercising my free speech”). Various catty arguments by protesters, punctuated by horn blowings, laughing, clapping, and so forth.
• 8:00 – Organizer tells protesters that if they have something to say to please hold it for the Q&A session. Protesters ignore him and continue blowing horns and banging on desks.
• 9:11 – Organizer informs Dr. Fiamengo that security will be there soon to remove disruptive protesters.
• 11:00 – Protester argues that the mere presence of CAFE is a disturbance to the atmosphere at the University of Ottawa.
• 12:30 – More banging on desks.
• 13:26 – Organizer says “may we carry on [with the event]?” Protester yells “no!”
• 14:40 – Update by organizer for livestream audience. Listeners can barely hear him over protesters yelling. Argument continues among crowd after he finishes.
• 17:56 – Reuben from CAFE reminds audience that questions should be reserved for the end of the lecture, that these issues are not a game, that we are all in it together, and that professional discourse involves not yelling at or interrupting people. He asks audience to be respectful other people who have taken the time to attend. He reminds them that Dr. Fiamengo is a faculty member at this university. Throughout his talk he is interrupted numerous times by protesters. Reuben asks protesters to stop name-calling.
• 22:10 – Protester asks Reuben how he can speak on behalf of all of them. Based on his response, Reuben (apparently) assumes he is talking about their differences of opinion, rather than their right to have (and voice) a different opinion.
• 24:55 – Camera is turned toward audience.
• 27:10 – Security rebukes the protesters.
• 29:22 – Dr. Fiamengo tries to speak. Protesters start singing (badly) and banging on desks 10 seconds afterward. Dr. Fiamengo rebukes the protesters
• 30:45 – Protester blows horn again. Singing continues. Discussion by organizers/Dr. Fiamengo. Singing diminishes when organizers and Dr. Fiamengo leave the front of the lecture room. Discussion/argument among crowd.
• 36:25 – Organizer announces the event will be moved to a different room. Discussion/relative inactivity among crowd.
• 39:50 – Dr. Fiamengo rebukes protesters again. Protesters rationalize their disruption of the event because the organizers are “being oppressive.” Continued discussion (with many a “patriarchy” reference by protesters).
• 44:29 – Organizer announces that event has been moved to a room that cannot accommodate everyone due to violation of university policies. Moving of equipment.
• 45:50 – Man informs viewers via livestream that a confrontation is currently going on outside the new room and that he is not sure that he will be able to livestream from the new room due to the technical issues of that room. A discussion among small groups continues in the room as it is slowly emptied.

These are the people that are coming out of our modern universities.

The second room had less technological capabilities, and one attendee reported that the seating was less comfortable. Once the protesters who violated university policy on freedom of expression realized that they were not allowed in the second room, they started screaming in the hallway and making noise outside, just as they had done at earlier CAFE events. Attendees tweeted about it:

And of course, once Dr. Fiamengo finally got the chance to speak in the second room, the fire alarm was pulled by protesters:

Again, this is the third time that protesters have pulled fire alarms to disrupt CAFE events.

Some people have tried to make the claim that the protest had nothing to do with Feminism. I disagree. The protesters were making the same tired arguments Feminists are notorious for making, and they were using the rhetoric of Feminists the whole time. Patriarchy this, misogyny that, blah blah blah. The protesters never talked about anything other than gender issues.

Luckily the whole event didn’t go up in smoke. Dr. Fiamengo was actually able to speak at length in the second room. Upon seeing the intolerance of the protesters, many attendees who were on the fence politically sided with CAFE, who tweeted about the aftermath of the event:

There are more video recordings of the event that have yet to be posted. I will update this post when they are.

Related:

• Canadian Association for Equality: “From Challenge to Success: CAFE Report on Queen’s and U of O Inaugural Events.”
• Dr. Janice Fiamengo’s presentation from the day prior at Queen’s University
• Article at A Voice for Men concerning the U of Ottawa protest written by AVFM Ontario News Director Dan Perrins.

Addendum:

Since we’re currently abuzz about the disruption by Feminists at the University of Ottawa, I thought it relevant to remind everyone that this anti-male poster below was posted at U of Ottawa’s women’s center for years. You can see an article about it in this screenshot of the U of Ottawa student publication The Fulcrum (the article no longer exists on their website). See more in the AVFMS compilation “The Face of Misandry in Academia: a Collection of Banners, Posters, and Other Visual Aids.”