Don’t Get Rid of Your Proof of Jenn Smith’s Bigotry.

Whatever you do don’t get rid of the evidence.

As expected, anti-SOGI 123 / anti-trans rights / anti-human decency activist, Jenn Smith has said that he intends to legally pursue anyone with transcriptions or recordings of his “info session” The Erosion of Freedom: How transgender politics in school and society is undermining our freedom and harming women and children. Jenn has no grounds to legally impose this.

First of all, it is completely legal to film and/or record in a public place. At the event that I attended, Jenn followed up the statement of not allowing anyone to record with something to the affect of, “There are people who want to get me / take me to a human rights tribunal.” As eloquently stated in this blog post that “Jenn set the rules such that only evidence of what they say would be in the form of handwritten notes, and that any form of dissonance with their message would be punished with expulsion from the event. This is their closet; their echo-chamber, their bunker.”

I concur with this statement. The way that Jenn and the Canadian Christian Lobby have set up their event ensured that there could be no dissonance. No placards, interruptions, no recording, keep your questions until the end of a two-hour presentation that went on until after 10 PM on a weeknight.

Even the way that Jenn and the CCL publicized the event ensured that there could be very little dissonance. Jenn had been making some noise about going on tour for about a month before it happened. He did not publish the event schedule until Thursday and his first talk in Campbell River was slated for Sunday evening. This left people very little time to complain or make plans to protest the event. It also left the city very little time to respond.

Jenn doesn’t like to hear opposing views. It’s that simple. Jenn didn’t want opposing views to cloud his ability to attempt to convince his audience that his views of trans issues were the only views of value. Jenn wants to live in an echo-chamber where only his voice is heard. The fact that Jenn on multiple occasions said in his “info session” that people want to get him and take him to a human rights tribunal should tell us all something. Even Jenn is concerned that the things that he says border hate in the legal sense, even if he doesn’t think highly of the legal system. If there’s nothing wrong with what Jenn says, then Jenn wouldn’t be concerned. Jenn would want to spread his message.

The second point Jenn has made (and I find it to be extremely humorous) is that he prohibits recording because it is his proprietary information… his copywritten presentation… his intellectual property.

Now, I’m no expert in law (anyone please correct me if I’m wrong) but besides his own story… I don’t think it’s actually his proprietary property. The few webpages and studies he cited can be found online. He used photos of celebrities like Jazz Jennings (probably without permission!). Jenn borrows a lot of information from elsewhere and also comes up with some numbers that he doesn’t even provide a citation for. Also, to prove copyright infringement, someone would have to take credit for his work (no one wants to take credit for your garbage presentation, Jenn. It’s yours and you should be held accountable for it) and he would have to prove that he somehow lost remuneration. Last time I checked, it was a free event and at the risk of being named a “BCTF Apologist” I’m going to quote Glen Hansman when he tweeted, “I must have missed the “Donations Gathered at Bigotry Rally” line item on Revenue Canada’s T1 General Tax Form.”

I’m also going to go out on a limb here and say that no one has any interest in taking Jenn’s “proprietary” bigoted presentation on tour and using it for their own financial gains. It would be almost as ridiculous as Jenn’s tour was in the first place.

So, if anyone is feeling concerned about Jenn’s threat of legal action. Don’t be.

Now… I’m not saying I do… and I’m not saying I don’t. But if I happened to have a recording of Jenn’s talk or any proof at all, I might pass it on to someone with more resources and experience in human rights activism. I suggest if you have any of that proof you do the same.

Obviously, there are many reasons someone would want to remain anonymous when dealing with things of this nature. If you are concerned about your identity, or safety please email me at concernedislander2@gmail.com , I will either pass off the evidence somewhere else or post it here with your permission. I promise to not share any information you don’t want me to. Alternatively, if there are any statements you want to make or if you just want to contribute your thoughts or feelings about what you’ve seen/heard I will happily post it here so it’s on public record. No one should have to feel the way Jenn wants trans people to feel. Let’s stand up against this together.

Love and Light,

A Concerned Islander

My writing so far:
Open Letter to Jenn Smith Pt. 1
Open Letter to Jenn Smith Pt. 2
Dear Jenn, I’m sorry…
Open Letter to Jenn Smith Pt. 3

Other really great sources of information:
The Erosion of Decency: Free Expression Has no Room for Inciting Discrimination or Hatred (Morgane Oger)
Jenn Smith’s “Information Session” Duncan B.C.

Photos with credit to Miss Gender from http://visiblytransgender.wordpress.com