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Update: Since we originally reported on this event being postponed, Chris Marshall, the father’s rights activist who was to provide the facility for the debate, has published on his blog that there was a business disagreement at the root of his removal from that property by police.

It seems clear at this point that the postponement of the debate was not caused by the interference of ideologues, as it was in the first one.

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Chris Marshall, a father’s rights activist and the manager of a Vancouver business where a scheduled debate addressing the question, “Has feminism gone too far?” reported that he has just been fired from his job, and escorted from the premises by Vancouver Police after 30 months of employment. The timing of Mr Marshal’s ejection comes 48 hours prior to that scheduled event.

This debate – and its topic “Has feminism gone too far?” were originally scheduled by Vancouver resident Ruth Mason-Paull, in response to ongoing censorship and intimidation against individuals posting human rights flyers on Commercial Drive in that city.

Mason-Paull’s original debate: “Has feminism gone too far?” was cancelled by her within 48 hours of it’s announcement on Facebook, due to a torrent of abuse and threats from gender ideologues who self-identified as feminists.

Marshall and AVfM’s John the Other were both invited to participate in the first scheduled event by Mason-Paull. Prior to the cancellation both men agreed that open discussion was far preferable to the tactics of censorship and attempted intimidation favoured by local feminists, who have also self-identified as “femistasi,” a term apparently adapted from Stasi, an abbreviation for the East German Secret Police. The two men took up the project abandoned by Mason-Paull and re-scheduled the debate to take place on 23 September at the location of Marshall’s business.

Unfortunately, due to outside interference, the operation is closed for the next several weeks.

Marshall, a well known Canadian father’s rights activist is familiar with attempts to censor and silence free expression. Marshall’s web-site chronicles a 10 year long struggle to maintain contact with his son. The site, documenting abuse of the boy by judges in the Alberta family court system has been subject to several legally specious gag orders on the illegitimate basis that the online documentation of judicial misconduct somehow constitutes abuse of the boy. Alberta family court judge Ged Hawco is the latest of a series of judges issuing gag orders, and enabling the continued abuse of a small boy by enforced separation from his father.

Paul Elam, when informed of these events remarked:

“Those who believe open discussion can be silenced by intimidation, and who may be patting themselves on the back should all be invited to attend the rescheduled debate which will be announced shortly on this site.”

Individuals who had planed to attend the scheduled September 23 debate are encouraged to watch for updates, as the debate will be rescheduled at a new location and date. However, in light on the resistance among gender ideologues, and the established pattern of censorship, intimidation and threats against the original organizer, a revised premise for the debate is now under consideration.

“Is feminism a hate movement?”

Previous to the required adjustments to this event, commentary on the event’s Facebook announcement from gender ideologues responded to the posted question, “Has feminism gone too far?” with substantial derision and invective, although to the present, no individuals have yet contacted the event organizers to argue the position of “NO, feminism has not gone too far.”

The necessary rescheduling of this debate, under the possible revised topic, “Is feminism a hate movement?” should provide participants additional time to register their participation and defense of feminism by email at events@avoiceformen.com

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