Jenn Smith’s talk at the Windsor Park Pavilion in Oak Bay will go ahead as planned. File photo.
After consulting with legal counsel, the District of Oak Bay says it will allow a controversial event at one of its facilities go ahead as planned.
The event, called “The Erosion of Freedom: how transgender politics in school and society is undermining our freedom and harming women and children,” is happening four Vancouver Island communities and features transgender speaker and vocal opponent to the sexual-orientation and gender-identity (SOGI) 123 anti-bullying program, Jenn Smith.
Some were calling for the Oak Bay event, scheduled for Thursday, to be cancelled because they say it discriminates against transgender people. But the organizer, anti-SOGI activist Jenn Smith, said he doesn’t promote discrimination and his event falls under free speech.
Two pro-SOGI events have been planned in opposition for Thursday night: one on the lawn of Windsor Park and the other at Willows Beach.
he SOGI 123 curriculum has been rolled out since 2016, after the B.C. government directed school districts to amend their anti-bullying policies and promote lessons on family diversity, including same-sex families and LGBTQ rights.
With files from Katie DeRosa, The Times Colonist
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