A University lecture in Canada intended to offer criticism of gender ideology was shut down this week after trans activists flooded the venue in protest.
McGill University, located in Montreal, was set to host a talk by Robert Wintemute, a professor of human rights law at Kings College, on the topic of how “transgender demands” infringe on “the rights of lesbian and bisexual women or the rights of children who might grow up to be LGB adults.”
The event, titled The Sex vs. Gender (Identity) Debate In the United Kingdom and the Divorce of LGB from T, was organized by McGill University’s Center for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP). The CHRLP website described the talk as a conversation on “whether or not the law should be changed to make it easier for a transgender individual to change their legal sex from their birth sex,” and about the problems this presents for “women-only spaces and sports, in which the individual’s birth sex should take priority over their gender identity, regardless of their legal sex.”
On January 10, over 200 protesters flooded the halls outside of the classroom where the lecture was scheduled to take place, holding signs and screaming at the attendees. One demonstrator held a sign comparing those who supported the debate to Adolf Hitler.
Critics slammed Wintemute as “notoriously transphobic and trans-exclusionary,” and reportedly threw baking flour at him. Attempts were also allegedly made to interfere with the projector he had set up for his presentation.
Wintemute, an alumnus of McGill University, was one of the original 29 signatories to a document that was foundational in establishing the notion of gender identity as a human right. The Yogyakarta Principles, designed to outline rights specific to sexual orientation and gender identity, were created during a gathering of academics and specialists in 2006.
Principle 3 asserts that gender identity is self-defined and does not require any medical intervention to be recognized. It also states that official documents, such as passports and identification, should be altered to comply with a subjective gender identity.
In April 2021, Wintemute told The Critic that he had revised his views on the matter after seeing how women were being impacted by laws which prioritize gender identity over sex. Wintemute stated that he “failed to consider” that men would take advantage of the legislation in order to access female-only spaces and said: “A key factor in my change of opinion has been listening to women.”
Since expressing his concerns around the conflicts between sex and gender identity, Wintemute has been appointed as a trustee for UK-based charity LGB Alliance – a group which has received tremendous criticism from trans activists, and was even taken to court last year by a charity which promotes the medical transitioning of minors.
In response to the cancellation of his lecture, Wintemute told CBC that he was thankful to the protesters for providing a demonstration of the “intimidation” that women face when opposing gender identity policies. “Probably the majority of women in this country disagree with some of transgender demands but they refuse to say so because they will be seen as intolerant,” he added.
The protest against Wintemute’s lecture was organized by a trans-identified male named Celeste Trianon.
Trianon, a law student at the University of Montreal, describes himself as a “a transfeminine sapphic jurist and activist.” In partnership with two student groups, Trianon organized the protest through a Facebook page, where it was claimed that the debate would “contribute directly to the systemic elimination of trans voices and lives worldwide.”
In the days leading up to the planned protest, Trianon published an open letter which similarly argued that “McGill University is actively contributing to the genocide of trans people across the world,” and attempted to portray both the LGB Alliance and Wintemute as participants in a far-right conspiracy.
“Every extra minute of airtime given to an anti-trans activist … will contribute to the premature deaths of trans people worldwide,” Trianon wrote.
According to his Facebook profile, Trianon is the president of a non-profit organization called Gender Euphoria (Euphorie dans le genre) which purports to give funding to “trans-led networks” and also has “allocated resources to provide our team members with work allowance.”
The term ‘gender euphoria‘ has frequently been used to describe a state of sexual arousal upon wearing clothing associated with the opposite sex. Curiously, Gender Euphoria’s official website provides the option to “leave without a trace,” which, when clicked, deletes the site from a visitor’s browser history.
Trianon has advocated for the medical transitioning of minors and has claimed that drugs used to halt puberty are “entirely reversible gender-affirming care,” despite mounting evidence to the contrary and increasing criticism of the practice. In a 2021 article for Sex [M]ed, Trianon argued that under-18’s can display “psychological maturity” which must be taken into account when determining the ability to consent to surgeries, and criticized “preexisting stereotypes surrounding children and teenagers … that they aren’t mature enough to make choices concerning themselves.”
“When surgeries are provided to trans* youth, this is generally because they have already demonstrated ‘psychological maturity’ (an unfortunately subjective criterion), and have an appropriate sociological and/or psychological reason for pursuing surgery before the age of majority,” Trianon wrote.
“Generally speaking, puberty blockers are prescribed to trans* youth before puberty has initiated or to those who are in the early phases of a gender dysphoric puberty (Tanner I-III),” Trianon added. The Tanner scale describes varying stages of puberty, with Stages I-III referring to children aged from one year-old to 15 years of age.
Trianon is also the Director of TransEstrie, which “provides trans, non-binary, and questioning people with access to products that are not widely available in the area, such as binders, packers, gaffs, and breastforms.”
TransEstrie works in partnership with a company called Banana Prosthetics to advertise prosthetic penises known euphemistically as ‘packers’ – some of which are designed to resemble the genitalia of prepubescent boys and intended to be worn by very young girls.
“Young trans or non-binary boys need age-appropriate prostheses and that’s why we offer them the possibility of getting packers, stand-to-pee and boxers that meet their needs,” reads the site. “We also have the possibility to order packers suitable for even younger boys.”
Trianon’s organization invites youth to directly contact the organization to make an appointment to try on the gear available.
Another sponsor linked through on the TransEstrie site is Come As You Are, a sex toy retailer. The company advertises a range of vibrators, dildos, and BDSM fetish accessories.
Immediately following the cancellation of Wintemute’s lecture, Trianon boasted on Facebook and referred to the LGB Alliance as “one of the most dangerous anti-trans hate groups in the world.” He added that he believed Wintemute “spewed hate,” and singled out a woman by name who he had spotted wearing a shirt supportive of author J.K. Rowling.
Annie-Ève Collin was one of two women targeted by trans activists for abuse at the event. Speaking with Reduxx, Collin explained that she had hoped to attend the debate with her friend, Lucia. As more and more protesters started to appear, Lucia began recording their demonstration with her phone. Seeing this, one protester “violently hit her arm,” sending her phone flying out of her hand.
Lucia also says that as they were leaving the building, they saw vandalism on the walls that read “Fuck TERFs.” TERF is an acronym standing for “trans exclusionary radical feminist. It is often paired with abuse or threats of violence.
Lucia has since filed a police report over the incident, and told Reduxx she was struck in an attempt to prevent her from filming Trianon, who was angrily shouting at them. Lucia noted that many protesters did not seem to be university students themselves.
Immediately afterwards, an activist believed to be Trianon placed a bullhorn to Collin’s ear and yelled, “Get out!” in her face. Collin says the incident caused her to have a headache for the following two days. During that time, she has been receiving aggressive e-mails sent to her work account.
Collin believes that she was attacked in part because she was wearing a sweater that read, “I [Heart] JK Rowling” and “woman: adult human female.” However, trans activists have been harassing her since 2018, when a man with over 10,000 Facebook followers, Ianik Marcil, made a public post calling her a ‘transphobe,’ outing her identity and place of work.
Since then, numerous attempts have been made to have her employment terminated, with some going so far as to contact her supervisor. Trans activists even created a 66-page document about her filled with screenshots taken from her social media – not only of her own posts, but also to track her interactions with friends. This document, she says, was sent to her supervisors.
This was also not the first time that Trianon had harassed her. Last October, Collin attended a Zoom conference presented by a person who identifies as non-binary. The theme of the talk, Collin says, was the importance of language in acknowledging non-binary status. After the presentation, Collin questioned the speaker on why this logic was not being extended to biological sex.
Trianon, who also attended the Zoom conference, made a defamatory post about her on Facebook, accusing her of “Zoom-bombing” and calling her slurs and a “hate machine.”
As media began to report on the lecture cancellation, Trianon went to the CBC and presented himself as a victim.
“The T (trans) is so much more vulnerable than the rest of LGB. I think there’s tons of scientific evidence speaking to that,” he said.
Trianon also took advantage of the attention drawn to the lecture cancellation to promote a crowdfunder for an organization called ASTTeQ (Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec), which offers a youth support program for vulnerable people aged 14 to 30 and advocates for the full legalization of the prostitution industry.
In addition to Gender Euphoria and TransEstrie, Trianon currently works with a group called The Quebec Trans ID Clinic, which helps individuals change their names and falsify their sex on legal documents.
In a December 24 post to Instagram, Trianon can be seen holding documents requesting alterations to identifying markers alongside controversial trans-identifying male Sophie LaBelle.
LaBelle, the creator of a webcomic series entitled Assigned Male, came under intense scrutiny in 2021 for creating diaper and furry fetish art based on photographs of real infants sourced online. Last year, Reduxx learned that LaBelle had been speaking on trans issues at elementary schools across Quebec.
Reduxx is your independent source of pro-woman, pro-child safeguarding news and commentary. We’re 100% reader-funded! Support our mission by joining our Patreon, or consider making a one-time donation.
