Talk about overkill. Yes, protests were inevitable at my talk on the fake rape crisis at UNSW last night. But for a while there it looked as if the police and security officers protecting us would outnumber the actual audience. There were police cars cruising, well-armed officers strutting the corridors guarding a room full of empty seats.
Gradually the room filled, as people found their way to the well-hidden venue, in a location changed a few days before by security.
And the fierce demonstrators? They were the usual motley crew of feminist agitators – maybe a dozen in all, and far better behaved than the Sydney University mob. Here they are in action – talk about a passionless protest!
The demonstrators’ problem was the wall of police blocking entrance to the venue had strict orders not to let protesters enter, even when I argued with university administrators that my purpose was to encourage proper discussion of the manufactured rape crisis.
But the police were in control and the result was I ended up speaking to a room full of people who largely agreed with me, whilst outside the protesters, surrounded by police, waved banners telling me to “Fuck off” and gave little speeches about how I am trespassing on campus sprouting “foul, victim-blaming rhetoric” and silencing student activists by seeking “illegitimate misconduct charges against campus organisers.” Clearly, they are very miffed that I managed to get Sydney University to charge the organizer of that protest with misconduct for orchestrating demonstrators to violently bully my audience and prevent them from reaching the venue.
The event had its amusing moments:
Like the policeman (pictured here) who confessed he was following my YouTube videos.
The outraged feminist medical registrar who tweeted that the university should be providing support for rape victims after my event.
And the protesters’ claim that I only allow “straight white males” into my event. Unsurprisingly, given the student population, the talk attracted significant numbers of Asian students.
My alma mater UNSW did well, parading their free speech credentials by imposing no security charges, immediately agreeing to provide a venue and allowing my host group, the UNSW Conservatives, to cover the university with flyers promoting my talk. The activists worked hard to rip these down and I used crowd-funder money to pay students to spend many hours putting flyers up in STEM areas. The main purpose of my campus tour is not to speak to a select group but alert ordinary students to what the universities are doing.
I ended my talk last night demonstrating how activists are stepping up their efforts to stop me telling the truth – that our universities are setting up illicit mechanisms for adjudicating rape on campus. My final words were as follows:
“They’ve got good reason to be nervous because I am one of the very few people exposing the shameful secret that our universities have decided to sell out young men to pacify a very small, but noisy group of feminists. And that’s a disgrace.”
I’m on the lookout for university groups to host my talks next year. Please help me find groups at campuses near you. I have discovered it takes months to organise these events so we need to start soon for 2020.