As a library patron and parent, I deeply value the services TPL provides.
In case you’re not familiar with the Library, Toronto Public Library is the busiest urban public library system in the world.
However, recently TPL and the City Librarian, Vickery Bowles, made the decision to allow a venue rental to proceed for a speaking event with anti-trans writer, Meghan Murphy.
If we all waited for the right words, no progress would ever be made…
To be honest, I don’t always feel like I have the right words for this kind of thing.
I say this not to make myself the focus of this issue (I believe it’s important to keep the focus on the people impacted and creating change).
I say this because I want you to know that you don’t have to wait until you have the right words or are completely confident to stand up for the rights of other people. If everyone waited until they had the right words, no progress would ever be made.
So please bear with me as I explain my thoughts and outline what *you* can do…
And a big thank you to people like JP and Kaleb of Fay & Fluffy’s Storytime who have given me some of the words for this.
Who is Meghan Murphy & why does this matter?
Meghan Murphy is an anti-trans writer who argues against trans people’s rights and has been removed from Twitter for hate speech.
Despite the numerous protests and pleas from trans folks and their allies that this would be giving Murphy a platform for her transphobic messages, the Library decided to proceed with her event.
I am aware that TPL was not technically hosting Meghan Murphy as a speaker, that she was “just” renting TPL space.
Regardless, TPL’s refusal to cancel this event and Vickery Bowles’ defense of it sends the message that the space rental is more important than trans people’s rights (and workers rights since there are trans folks who are also library workers).
For me, this means the library is not currently in line with my values and business ethics.
If the Library’s policies change, I’ll return to speaking there (more below about how you can help with this change).
I’ll review their policies again at the end of 2019.
I have shared this decision with the Library staff who work to organize and promote my speaking events.
This is NOT a call to boycott the Library, it’s a call to action
To be clear, this is *not* a call to boycott the library – it’s a call to change the policies of a publicly-funded institution that I love and support.
There are 3 main reasons why I’m sharing this:
1. I want to update you that my salary negotiation workshop at the Riverdale branch is cancelled (in case you were planning to attend) – if you have any ideas about where I could host this workshop, please let me know! I would LOVE to continue offering this free salary negotiation workshop for women in another space.
2. To share the reasons why I’m cancelling and draw attention to how people like Meghan Murphy contribute to transphobia and endanger the rights and lives of trans people.
3. To encourage you to call for the Library’s policies to change and actively be applied to reflect everyone’s right to be protected from hate speech (specifically TPL’s event, venue rental, and speaker policies).
Can you do these two things?
If trans rights are important to you, please call TPL at 416-393-7131 and let them know that as a library patron, you want their policies to change.
The Library tracks “complaints” and decreases in programming attendance so please also share that you were planning to come to my workshop at the Riverdale branch but since I cancelled it because of Meghan Murphy’s transphobic message.
Please also donate to your favourite org that supports trans people.
If you don’t have one yet, donating to The 519 is a great option.
The 519 supports evolving needs of the LGBTQ2S communities, with services and programs ranging from counselling services and queer parenting resources to coming out groups, trans programming, and senior’s support.
But isn’t this an issue of free speech?
I know that Meghan Murphy’s event has also become an issue of free speech.
I support free speech.
Everyone has a right to free speech but they don’t have a right to a platform.
And I don’t prioritize free speech over the right of others to remain free from hate speech, harassment, and speech that leads to violence.
I think this XKCD comic says it well (albeit with an American slant):
Unfortunately, when TPL gave Murphy a platform by allowing the space rental to go forward, they made their priorities clear.
I’ve found the article, The Myth of The Free Speech Crisis, to be really helpful. Here are some quotes that stood out for me:
“Like all freedoms, it ends when it infringes upon the freedoms of others.
“This free speech crisis movement has managed to stigmatise reasonable protest, which has existed for years without being branded as “silencing”. This is, in itself, an assault on free expression.
“We challenge this instrumentalisation by reclaiming the true meaning of the freedom of speech (which is freedom to speak rather than a right to speak without consequence), challenging hate speech more forcefully, being unafraid to contemplate banning or no-platforming those we think are harmful to the public good, and being tolerant of objection to them when they do speak. Like the political-correctness myth, the free-speech-crisis myth is a call for orthodoxy, for passiveness in the face of assault.
“A moral right to express unpopular opinions is not a moral right to express those opinions in a way that silences the voices of others, or puts them in danger of violence.
Thanks for your support with my cancelled workshop tonight.
Kathryn
Career & Salary Negotiation Coach
