David Marcus began his piece with the age-old saying, "You can't make this up." And indeed, the circumstances certainly seem to reflect the sentiment.

According to his New York Post op-ed, the New York Public Library canceled an event at its main branch scheduled for Friday titled, "Evening with Canceled Women."

And why?

Marcus said the NYPL wouldn't comment to him on the reasons. But he noted that the event was sponsored by "the Women's Liberation Front, a feminist organization that supports a biological definition of gender."

"The only plausible explanation is that the NYPL fears backlash from trans activists," Marcus added. "That is, the women are being denied a platform over their objections to trans ideology."

More from his piece:

At a time when our society is radically reengineering our conception of sex and gender — with policy decisions that will have profound ramifications on women's sports, prisons and homeless shelters, among other issues — the decision to silence these women is flat-out shameful.



A similar event to be hosted by the WLF on Feb. 1 at the Seattle Public Library will be going forward, ­despite complaints from trans ­activists. In a statement, the Seattle library said that it "must maintain its role as a stalwart protector of intellectual freedom for all, ­ensuring that all voices — even unpopular or offensive voices — are able to be heard."



Unfortunately, the decision-makers at NYPL seem to lack the courage of their counterparts in hyper-progressive Seattle.

Marcus added that the event was to feature women who've been victims of cancel culture, "including social-media bans, protests and hecklers — all for asserting the not-long-ago common view that gender is based in biological facts, not subjective feelings."

"Now," he noted, "the trans movement is telling them to shut up."

More from Marcus' op-ed:

In very short order, the academy, the media and the government have simply decided to overturn thousands of years of the understanding of gender, without so much as a discussion about it. Many on the left hold the view that speech critical of gender ideology is literally an act of violence. A free society can't survive such absurd nonsense.



It is vital that gender-critical feminists be a part of our debates over gender. To shame and shun speakers who insist that men can't become women, or vice versa, is to deprive important conversations about gender of a powerful, traditional feminist voice. But the tide might be turning: Author JK Rowling's recent refusal to bend the knee on the transgender issue has shown how toothless cancel culture can be when people of courage and conscience stand up to the bullies.

The event is still happening, Marcus said, but at "secret location that will be announced to ticket-holders the day of — to avoid protesters shutting it down. This is what progressivism has come to: Feminists have to hide to speak freely."