Voice for Men international conferenct.jpg

DETROIT, MI -- Opponents say Voice for Men is a misogynist organization.

According to the Voice for Men mission statement, it advocates for gender equality and seeks to correct social inequities imposed on men.

Either way, the Voice for Men-sponsored International Men's Conference scheduled to be held at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton hotel in downtown Detroit between June 26-28 has caused a stir.

Opponents, who are calling for the event's cancellation, plan to march from Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit to DoubleTree Suites to picket Saturday.

Protesters are meeting at Grand Circus Park beginning at 10 a.m. the march is expected to begin at 11 a.m. and the picket is scheduled to conclude at noon, according to a Facebook event page started last week. Four-hundred-twelve respondents said they plan to attend.

Multiple organizations listed on the Facebook website event page claim they are not involved or don't oppose the International Men's Conference.

Supporting its claim of Voice for Men misogyny, the event page links to a story on the organization's website written by founder Paul Elam entitled, "Study Reveals Female Rape Victims Enjoyed the Experience."

The story explores a 2010 study of rapes on college classes that showed 57 percent of respondents said they had “positive” and “satisfied" feelings regarding their experience.

UPDATE: Dean Esmay, who edits content on the Voice for Men website, contacted MLive to clarify that the story referenced by the protest's Facebook event page was intended to be satirical, as well as provocative, and referenced the closing paragraph which says:

As of Friday, a petition on Change.org asking DoubleTree to cancel the event had received more than 3,200 of a targeted 5,000 signatures.

DoubleTree Suites in this statement said it will not cancel the International Men's Conference:

However, concerns over security at the conference prompted Voice for Men Founder Paul Elam to start a fundraiser to pay for additional police at the event.

As of Friday, more than 319 people had donated $30,000-plus to the cause.

"We are launching this campaign because our upcoming International Conference on Men's Issues in Detroit, Michigan, featuring a lineup of world renowned experts on gender issues, has been jeopardized by threats of death and violence to the hotel employees and guests where we are scheduled to present," wrote Elam. "This badly needed conference, dealing with issues like suicide, child custody, family law, homelessness, paternity fraud and parental alienation is under attack by ruthless ideologues who want to silence us from speaking to these issues."