There was a debate in Sydney, Australia today between feminist author Roxane Gay and “factual feminist” Christina Hoff Sommers. Gay is a bestselling author best known for a 2014 book of essays called “Bad Feminist.” Gay is a fan of no-platforming anything she considers hate speech and, though she had never heard of Sommers before they were paired for this event, told the Sydney Morning Herald last year that Sommers was a “white supremacist.”

In the contemporary culture war over whether racists and other bigots should be given airtime, American author and academic Roxane Gay has planted her feet firmly in the no-platforming camp. So it may come as a surprise to hear what Gay thinks of the relatively low-profile speaker she plans to share the stage with, when she returns to Australian shores in March for the #FEMINIST speaking tour… She’s also a feminist whom Gay, speaking on the phone from Los Angeles, describes as “a white supremacist.”… Gay hadn’t even heard of Christina Hoff Sommers until she tweeted about the event and was subsequently sent some information by civil rights advocates at the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which she found “disturbing”.

There doesn’t seem to be any video of the event available at this point, but someone who attended as a supporter of Western feminism said it left her feeling disappointed. She was disappointed by the poor behavior of Gay’s fans in the crowd and disturbed by Gay’s refusal to condemn the treatment of women in other cultures:

2/ Prior to the event, reports emerged that Roxane had classed @CHSommers as a white supremacist. She clarified tonight by saying that she was "white supremacy adjacent" for appearing alongside @MiloYiannopoul1 & failing to adequately disavow his problematic views. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

4/ He opened the event by describing the responses of self-proclaimed feminists to his invitation to moderate the discussion. It was resounding 'No's all round. By this point I was extremely nervous that everyone had come to alienate & demonise @CHSommers en masse. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

6/ @CHSommers identifies as a feminist & liberal democrat. The fact that she chooses to define her own moral boundaries (some of which I disagree with) however makes her an outcast. I am struggling to process that a civil discussion WITH ONE OF OUR OWN was impossible. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

8/ @CHSommers responded in the affirmative without hesitation. Roxane had some qualifiers. She said that it would be rich for a westerner to assume that they knew what was best for other cultures & that we didn't need to intervene in their affairs. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

10/ That refusing to speak up on their behalf is an abandonment of the most vulnerable people b/c they don't have access to the same platforms we do. They need support & they're begging for it. But it's falling on deaf ears. The moderator then showed a clip from Indonesia. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

13/ That we're imposing our standards of misogyny on them when they may not interpret it that way. The moderator then pointed out that it's clearly oppressive by anyone's standard. However, this was dismissed with no real attempt to engage with the underlying issue. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

15/ She then went on to talk about Nasrin Sotoudeh, who's horrific case is conclusive proof of the systemic oppression silencing feminists in the ME. What are we waiting for exactly? But nobody was there to take any of it on board. They were just there to destroy her. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

She’s referring to Rahah Mohammed, a Saudi teenager who escaped to Thailand while on vacation with her family. She was granted asylum in Canada and says she was abused by her family from the age of sixteen.

“I was exposed to physical violence, persecution, oppression, threats to be killed,” she said. “I felt that I could not achieve my dreams that I wanted as long as I was still living in Saudi Arabia. “It’s daily oppression,” Mohammed added. “We are treated as an object, like a slave. We could not make decisions about what we want.”

The other woman she referred to, Nasriin Sotoudeh, is a human rights lawyer in Iran. Earlier this month she was convicted of various trumped-up charges and sentenced to 38 years and 148 lashes. I wrote about her story here.

17/ Even though intersectionalism was meant to add depth to feminism, it has excluded the experiences of any who don't fit their category's narrative. There is no space to discuss Muslims as the oppressors, which leaves dissenting Muslims & ex-Muslims out of the picture. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

18/ I have come away from tonight's event shocked & horrified by the blatant hypocrisy on display. I feel so alienated from the movement that once filled me with hope. I would love to hear other people's experience with this & any strategies you have going forward. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) March 29, 2019

The author’s Twitter bio describes her as an Australian Egyptian and an ex-Muslim atheist. Here’s a tweet she pinned at the top of her feed which helps explain her reaction to the debate:

#AsAnExMuslimWoman my life is coloured with a constant sense of relief. Relief that I escaped an abusive relationship with Allah & Muhammad. Relief to be free of indefinite guardianship. Relief that I can embrace my true potential. Relief that I can exist without apology. — Omayma M (@Omaymam_94) February 11, 2019

Christina Hoff Sommers RT’d the thread and added her own comments about the debate:

Important thread on my debate with Roxane Gay tonight in Sydney. Lots of jeering, hooting and stamping of feet when I spoke. Crowd almost lost it when I defended the free enterprise system. Next stop Melbourne. Bravo @thisis_42 https://t.co/AGxJhyl4ZG — Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) March 29, 2019

Despite the temper tantrum from the crowd, Sommers seems to be enjoying herself: