Mayday in Canada's Capital — or, The Kids on the Hill (are not alright)
- Katherine Jameson Digby
- 2 days ago
- 21 min read
by Katherine Jameson Digby
A firsthand account of the Mayday Canada — Kids in Crisis! day of advocacy in Ottawa, from Gender Dissent's intrepid on-the-scene correspondent, Katherine Jameson Digby
OTTAWA − The inaugural Mayday Canada event took place on May 5, 2026. This was the initiative of Jeff Evely, with support from Hands Off Our Kids, Genspect Canada, LGB Alliance Canada, Detrans Alliance Canada, Veterans 4 Freedom, Canadians for Truth, and the Mama Bears Project.
Jeff Evely is a twenty-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. He was co-organizer of the Million March 4 Children, which took place across Canada in September of 2023 and 2024. He is also a spokesperson for Hands Off Our Kids.
When Jeff was deployed to Iraq in 2019, his daughter turned 16, the legal age of medical consent in Ontario. At this time, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario began to contact Jeff’s daughter to encourage her to attend their Pediatric Gender Clinic and to receive medical interventions for “gender.” Jeff has been alienated from his daughter for the past three years.
Jeff’s co-organizer for Mayday was Scott Newgent. Scott is a transgender-identified Texan woman who underwent medical interventions in 2015, at age 42. Scott suffered severe health complications, documented in Matt Walsh’s 2022 documentary What is a Woman?. Scott founded TReVoices, which groups together trans-identified educators who oppose gender activism, and seeks to educate politicians and families about the realities of pediatric gender medicine. In 2021, Scott made a written submission to the Canadian Senate’s Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding Bill C-4, An Act to amend the Criminal Code on Conversion Therapy.
Jeff and Scott were joined at Mayday by some big names in the Canadian Gender Scene: Mia Hughes, director at Genspect Canada, author of the WPATH files, and senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, Barry Neufeld, former school board trustee who was fined $750 000 for voicing opposition to the implementation of gender ideology in British Columbian schools, Chris Fleury, a constitutional lawyer lawyer who is representing Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (caWsbar) in its Charter challenge to Correctional Service Canada’s policy of allowing biological males to be housed in women’s prisons, Kellie-Lynn Pirie, founder of Detrans Alliance Canada, Faith Groleau, a detransitioner who identified as trans from 2017 to 2022, and Dr. Ann Gillies, pastor and retired clinical counselor.
Mayday morning: Press conference
Mayday began at 10:30 AM in the West Block of the Canadian Parliament Buildings, with a press conference featuring the speakers listed above. Each summarized their reasons for supporting much greater government scrutiny of pediatric gender medicine in Canada. All media outlets that cover Parliamentary affairs were invited to the press conference. CTV, City News, Juno News and the Western Standard, responded by attending.
Jeff Evely speaks at the Mayday Canada press conference in West Block.
Mia Hughes takes her message to Parliament.
The press conference was followed by a rally on Parliament Hill at 1:00. As I lack the parliamentary press credentials necessary to attend the press conference, I reported to the Hill at 11:30 AM, with plans to eat my lunch and soak up some sun before the event.
Mayday afternoon: Rally, interviews and — gasp — discussions!
I was quickly reminded of why events like these are so necessary to warn the Canadian public of the ramifications of gender ideology. I was waiting my turn to go through the pedestrian gate to get onto the grounds of Parliament Hill. A lady, around sixty years of age, was passing through the gate in front of me, her hands tied up with two big bags, when her hat blew off. I tried to make a joke, as I was similarly weighed down with all the stuff I thought I’d need for a day reporting on gender.
I said to her, “Demonstrating requires a fair bit of paraphernalia!”
She responded, somewhat reproachfully, “I’m here for Red Dress Day, to draw attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.”
“Oh,” I said, somewhat abashed. “I’m here for a related reason. My group is trying to keep men out of women’s prisons and to ensure that male crime is not recorded as female crime.”
All pretense of friendliness drained from her face. “But you’re not anti-trans?” she asked.
I responded, “We support anyone expressing themselves how they wish, but we don’t support any men being housed in a women’s jail, regardless of how they identify.”
“But trans men are women!” she objected with appropriate conviction.
“You’re right,” I said, politely refraining from asking whether she hadn’t got the slogan wrong.
And with that, she replied, “I don’t want to talk to you,” and walked away.
It was the perfect opener to the day, succinctly summarizing where the progressive Canadian public is on the gender issue:
Women’s safety is a good thing, as long as it doesn’t compromise male access to women’s spaces.
If in doubt, recite a slogan, even if you don’t know what it means.
If someone doesn’t agree with you, storm away.
In any event, by noon, I’d met my group of women from the Ottawa chapter of caWsbar. By 12:30, we were up on Parliament Hill, where the Mayday Canada speakers and supporters were gathering. Other independent media were present, such as Juno News and a Quebec-based outfit called Le Verbe.
I was determined to speak with as many of the demonstrators as I had time for. My first interview was with Kellie-Lynn Pirie, founder of Detrans Alliance Canada. Kellie-Lynn is a seminary student at Trinity Western University in Langley British Columbia. She hopes to qualify as a Chaplain with the Mennonite Brethren, a denomination so traditional that they do not ordain women or gay people.
Photo: Gender Dissent
Kellie-Lynn told me that Trinity is the safest post-secondary institution in BC for a detransitioner such as herself. She feels that on the campuses of the big-name universities such as the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, or Simon Fraser University, she would be unwelcome as a detransitioner.
Photo: Gender Dissent
Next I talked to Howard Kwan, who I recognized from the Billboard Chris demonstration almost exactly a year ago at Broadview Public School in Nepean. It turns out that Howard is a seriously seasoned veteran of the Ottawa protest scene. He told me that he is on Parliament Hill every weekend, participating in a range of protest actions. Howard had several dozen home-made, lightweight signs, many of them to do with gender ideology, and many to do with other issues.
Photo: Gender Dissent
Howard’s activism began in the pandemic era, and now he supports a range of demonstrations, without being a committed member of any particular group. Howard said that he has frequently been subject to assault from counter protesters, but he thinks that this kind of aggression peaked in 2022-23, as pandemic restrictions were lifting, and people were coming out of two years of social isolation. Howard also had some juicy insider information on other protesters that are commonly found on the Hill. He suspects that some of them are paid agent provocateurs.
Then I caught Jeff Evely himself, and asked about whether this was the first-ever Mayday Canada event. Jeff said that he had been heavily involved in organizing the Million March for Children in September 2023 and 2024, but that this was the first time he’d organized an event in May. There have been a lot of requests from his supporters to take the event across the country to demonstrate in multiple cities.
Photo: Gender Dissent
Jeff’s intention is to establish Mayday Canada as a not-for-profit corporation, which would help with the organizing. I observed to Jeff that I had been at the Million March for Children, and that I thought there were ten thousand demonstrators in 2023, which fell to a mere hundred in 2024. Jeff’s assessment was that the interfaith element of the Million March for Children was not possible to sustain after October 7, 2023, and that that accounts for the falling numbers of demonstrators.
I then exchanged a few words with Scott Newgent, who talked about how Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sought to limit public financial support for medical interventions for gender, but that the void has been filled by the Crane Centre, a private, for-profit clinic that offers the full range of gender-related procedures under the supervision of WPATH board member Dr. Curtis Crane.
One of my goals at Mayday was to take careful stock of the counter protestors that gathered to oppose the Mayday message. In the past, these counter protests have been supported by some very large publicly funded institutions, such as the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. Here is the call-out that Centretown Community Health Centre, posted in September 2023, encouraging its patients to take part in the counter demonstration of the Million March for Children:
When Billboard Chris Elston came to town in April 2025, the numbers of demonstrators on either side of the debate was approximately equal, numbering perhaps just over one hundred on either side at its peak, and both sides counted some big names present. On the gender critical side, we had Chris Elston himself, as well as Maxime Bernier, leader of People’s Party of Canada (and this, three days before a federal election), Mia Hughes, and Shannon Boschy.
On the other side of the debate, were the former Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Centre, Joel Harden, and Ottawa City Councillors Ariel Troster and Jeff Lieper. The flags of three unions were also displayed on the “trans side” of the street, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees.
From the Instagram Post by Horizon Ottawa: "Yesterday, dozens of community members came together to stand up to transphobic demonstrators. “Billboard Chris” invited other right-wing agitators and members of the PPC party, including Maxime Bernier, to spew their hateful ideology out front of two schools along Broadview Ave. Ottawa Community Solidarity organized the “Drown Out the Hate” counter-protest, and we stood our ground for almost 4 hours until the right-wingers finally left."
The pro-trans counter-protest, organized by Horizon Ottawa, employed the tactics that have become universal in all the large, affluent cities of West where Gender has now become endemic: demonstrators are instructed to hide as much as possible, behind flags, umbrellas, and blue surgical masks. They are told to blare as much loud nonsense as possible, and under no circumstances to talk to the media or the opposition.
Watch: Rebel News coverage of the protest in front of Broadview Public School in Ottawa, April 2023
At the outset, my ambitions for Mayday in Ottawa were limited largely to photographing any signage or flags that indicated corporate support of any kind for the counter demonstration. By 1:30 PM, the only counter demonstration that had gathered was a group of about twenty young people, with naught to identify them but a few “trans capes” and the trademark colourful hair. I asked my caWsbar colleagues what they thought about my attempting an interview with the opposition, and one suggested that there were two kids sitting on the lawn that seemed open to talking about the issue.
The counter-protest arrives, notably reduced by hundreds, compared to previous Ottawa-held protests countering the sex-realism/child-safeguarding movement. (The Office of the Prime Minister is located in the building formerly known as the Langevin Block, behind.) Photo: Gender Dissent
So I approached the kids on the lawn, saying I was reporting for Gender Dissent, and that I’d like to get their perspective on the demonstration for the benefit of our readers. One of them immediately identified themselves as “trans” and gave the name “Moss.” I confess I had pegged Moss as a natal male but had to question that impression when Moss started talking about taking testosterone.
Moss told me right at the outset that, had it not been for medical interventions, Moss would be in a “deep depression.” Moss began identifying as trans in grade seven, age 12, at the beginning of the pandemic. By age 15, Moss had been diagnosed with anorexia, which put Moss “on a rush list for testosterone.”
In Moss’ experience, there was a two-year wait before being seen at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and then there was an assessment period at intake. In other words, drugs were not offered on the first visit.
Moss is now on testosterone, made possible financially through parents’ extended medical insurance as military and federal government employees. Moss said that CHEO “prefers” patients to wait until age 18 to get “top surgery” and that this surgery is performed at CHEO. Moss was not aware of CHEO offering “top surgery” to natal males.
I asked if Moss was in contact with other youth who were receiving medical interventions for gender, and whether any had changed their minds. Moss knew of one such person.
Moss’s companion was female and looked a little older than Moss. She intervened to tell me that she works in early childhood education and therefore understands the importance of facilitating childhood transition.
From the Ottawa District School Board website, Frequently Asked Questions for 2SLGBTQ+ Supports
I thanked these two for their time and moved on to the main group of protestors.
There were none of the flag-walls, umbrellas or bullhorns I’d seen at other events. Most of the counterdemonstrators looked like natal females, but, of course, the goal of gender treatments is often to make this hard to determine. No one looked over 30, and there were no banners or signs identifying who they might be associated with.
I asked if anyone wanted to speak on behalf of the group, and a handsome young chap in a fuchsia sweatsuit said he’d be willing. I asked if the group was affiliated with anyone, and he said that his understanding was that they had all shown up independently. He himself was a supporter of the New Democratic Party.
When I asked what the nature of his opposition was to Mayday, he responded that the “queer community” (gesturing toward the Mayday crowd?!) had failed to support trans people. I was taken aback to hear the Mayday protesters characterized as “the queer community”. (So, Mayday were “queer,” but the wrong kind of queer, or queers with the wrong kind of ideas?) I was ill prepared to hear our side credited with being “queer,” so I thanked fuchsia-sweatshirt man for his time and went back to my own side, scratching my head somewhat.
Once I’d returned to the “Mayday” side of the field, the small group of trans activists had decided to approach the Mayday group and to begin chanting slogans. We encouraged them to come even closer and to engage in some dialogue, but they were reluctant.
At this point, I went back out around the fence, and again asked the counter-protestors if anyone wanted to talk. This time my offer was taken up by a person named “Alex.” Alex was rather diminutive, and in spite of the low voice and facial hair, I felt confident I was talking to a natal female. Alex had long hair, so I surmised that Alex perhaps identifies as “non-binary”.
Photo: Gender Dissent
Alex was eight years older than Moss, and perhaps consequently, had a somewhat wider view on the whole gender issue. Alex began to identify as trans in 2015, at age 16, and began medical interventions in 2018, at age 19. 2018 was the year that the province of Ontario voted in a Conservative government, after fifteen years of Liberal rule. Alex told me that the Conservatives removed testosterone from OHIP Plus, which I have since learned, thanks to Google, is a provincial medical program that allowed young people up to age 24 to have extended medical coverage under the Ontario Health Insurance Program. So, according to Alex, testosterone has become less financially accessible in Ontario since 2018.
Alex was at the demonstration to defend trans rights. When I asked about what kind of rights, I was told, the right to health care. I told Alex that I understood that access to gender-related medical services were restricted in Ontario, but I asked if Alex knew of anyone who had ever been denied non-gender-related medical care based on their trans identity. I thought this was an important distinction, as our publicly funded broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, regularly refers to transgender people being denied medical care, knowing full well that most listeners will interpret this as discrimination in the context of regular medical care, based on a trans identity. Alex did not have examples of anyone within Alex’s acquaintance who had been denied regular health care based on their trans identity.
Alex knows lots of trans-identified people — most of Alex’s friends are trans. Everyone Alex knows who is on synthetic hormones has acquired them through a prescription, and not online or on the street. In Alex’s experience, there is a lot of follow-up care for patients on hormones, such as blood work and bone density scans. The hormone dose is constantly adjusted based on these tests. Alex knows of people who have been declined hormonal treatment because of health concerns such as bone density issues or mineral deficiency. Most patients Alex knows go to the Centretown Community Health Centre mentioned above.
Alex described experiencing harassment in the street, such as people throwing water bottles, or uttering insults like “faggot.” I told Alex that everyone that I had talked to so far at the Mayday event was committed to keeping the world safe for gender non-conforming people, and would never endorse a person being harassed based on their appearance.
As I wrapped up my conversation with Alex, I turned around to notice that many of the Mayday supporters had come out to talk with the trans-identified youth. There were many conversations happening, with lots of disagreement but no shouting or threats. A half a dozen police stood by watching over the conversations but had no occasion to intervene.
No one was hurt in this photo shoot! Civil discourse happened between Mayday organizers/supporters and transgender-identifying youth on Parliament Hill, May 5, 2026. Photo: Gender Dissent
By now it was three o’clock and we had promised to meet some other caWsbar associates for an early dinner before the Mayday "town hall" scheduled for the evening. The warm sunny morning had darkened over and some rain drops were falling, so I was glad to get inside and to exchange notes with other the caWsbar associates who had attended the rally.
Mayday evening: Town hall
By 5:00 PM we reported to the venue for the town hall: the Capital City Biker’s Church in the Vanier neighbourhood of Ottawa, east of downtown. The Biker’s Church lived up to its name: manning the sides of the steps into the church were over twenty large bikers, in Biker’s Church matching regalia. In addition to providing meaningful distraction to anyone who may have thought it a good idea to come and cause problems, they conducted bag checks to ensure no contraband or weapons were brought into the venue.
A church-goer displaying all his patches waits for a drink by the cafe bar during a service at the Capital Biker's Church. Photo: Ottawa Citizen from a 2018 news story
The inside of the Biker’s Church was divided roughly into four segments: when you first walk in, you have a coffee bar on your left, and a gift shop with Biker’s Church souvenirs on your right. The next segment is chairs, lined into traditional church pews. Then a third section had been laid out as if for a supper club: round tables seating about eight people, each with matching black tablecloths and a candle. And finally, there was the stage, or the “chancel” in church language, for the speakers.
There was an hour to mingle and network before the speakers began, and independent media was active getting footage of the individual speakers.
Jeff Evely welcomed everyone to the Town Hall and introduced the first speaker: Mia Hughes. Mia likely needs little introduction to Gender Dissent readers, having published the WPATH Files in March of 2024. Mia talked about the asymmetry of the gender debate, with those on the side of science having to counter slogans, rather than evidence, from the other side. Mia described Canada becoming an outlier in the practice of gender medicine, as other countries are steadily abandoning WPATH guidelines.
Next up was Chris Fleury, a lawyer representing caWsbar in its Charter challenge against the federal government on behalf of women who are incarcerated with male inmates. The policy (Commissioner's Directive 100) to place men in women’s prisons on the basis of gender identity stems from the passage of Bill C-16 in 2017, which added gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act.
"Fleury made it crystal clear: these laws don’t protect kids — they endanger them. He called for the immediate repeal of Bill C-4 and Bill C-16, full restoration of parental authority, and bold Charter challenges to hold governments accountable." —Free Speech Media @mikebayerdotcom
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NEWS FLASH!
Days after this report was submitted to Gender Dissent, defenders of women's sex-based rights across Canada celebrated a significant win towards restoring safety and dignity for some women and children.
Continued
Chris Fleury was followed by Kellie-Lynn Pyrie, who gave an incredibly personal account of growing up in a house with a convicted pedophile, and concluding early in life that she would have been better off being born a boy. In 2004, at age 38, Kellie-Lynn was coming out of a life of drugs and alcohol, and became enthralled with the idea of transitioning to male. She spent seventeen years living as a trans man and got involved in the BDSM subculture that dominated the trans community in Vancouver at that time. Kellie-Lynn underwent both a mastectomy and a hysterectomy. She has now founded Detrans Alliance Canada, which has grown slowly but steadily.
Anne Gillies was next to speak. She framed gender ideology as part of a larger problem of the Internet hastening a dismantling of family structures. In her practice as a counselor, she saw gender dysphoria as a symptom of untreated distress. Anne has observed puberty blockers interrupting cognitive development in teenagers and preventing the maturation that would allow most teens to grow out of their feelings of dysphoria.
Then Barry Neufeld took the stage. At age 78, he was the oldest person to speak at the Town Hall. Barry’s lifetime of work as a parole officer put him into contact with sex offenders. He talked about how the wives and girlfriends of known pedophiles would often defend and justify the man’s behavior. This experience gave Barry a front-row seat to the necessity of keeping safeguards in place in settings like schools. As a school board trustee in Chilliwack British Columbia, Barry opposed the introduction of sexual orientation and gender ideology education that goes under the name of SOGI 123. The BC Human Rights Commission has issued a fine of $750 000 against Barry, alleging that his opposition to SOGI amounts to hate speech.
Next we heard from Athena Davis, founder of le Réseau éducation, sexe et identité, a group that brings together parents, education and health professionals concerned about the influence of gender identity ideology in the education and health systems of Quebec. She shared a story of Gabrielle, a girl who is same-sex attracted, and whose girlfriend convinced her at age 15 to seek out medical transition. After two 30-minute appointments, Gabrielle was approved for a mastectomy, which was carried out when she was sixteen. This was followed by a hysterectomy at age twenty. Gabrielle is now going through menopause in her twenties and is more dysphoric than ever.
Athena also spoke about the recent cancellation of the film Génération Trans, produced by independent Quebecois film maker Jean-Pierre Roy. The film was supposed to play at the Cinéma Cartier in Quebec City on April 30, but was cancelled due to a flood of anonymous threats against the staff and audience.
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UPDATE!
Two screenings of Génération Trans are now scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, at 6:30 PM and 9:15 PM — at LaScène Lebourgneuf in Quebec City.
Continued from above
Following Athena was Faith Groleau, another detransitioner. Faith was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) at age fifteen. Due to her mental health issues, she was fast-tracked for gender interventions. She was put on puberty blockers at age fifteen, and at age eighteen was approved for a mastectomy. At birth, Faith suffered from a diaphragmatic hernia and this gave her recurring health problems throughout childhood and adolescence. When Faith was twelve, her father left the family, leaving her mother vulnerable to bad medical advice. Faith recalls clinicians training her in how to manipulate her mother into agreeing to gender interventions. In the end, a psychotherapist helped Faith to develop interests other than gender. Faith allowed her approval for “top surgery” to expire, and at age 22, she stopped taking hormones. In 2024, the release of the WPATH files convinced Faith that gender transition is both baseless and harmful.
Faith Groleau, a detranstioner, speaks at Capital City Biker's Church, Mayday Canada, 2026. Photo: Gender Dissent
Jeff Evely then took the stage and described visiting the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario with his daughter in 2017, when she was fourteen and was experiencing mental health issues. The hospital offered “gender dysphoria” as a diagnosis but were unable provide evidence that treatments were necessary or effective.
Jeff has submitted petitions to the Conservative party of Canada to repeal Bill C-16, which recognizes gender identity as a protected characteristic, and Bill C-4, which characterizes psychotherapy for gender dysphoria as a form of “conversion therapy.”
Tamara Ugolini of Rebel News reported on audio recordings taken by Jeff Evely of discussions with his daughter's gender doctors at CHEO. The doctors openly admit that the evidence of positive outcomes is weak for transitioning children and teens, while pushing forward with the medical transition of his teenage daughter and referencing the now-discredited WPATH guidelines.
The final and keynote speaker was Scott Newgent.
Scott was born female but identifies as a trans man. Scott is self-described as a “100% medically transitioned trans man” but this transition has been accompanied with medical emergencies, chronic infections, nutritional deficiencies, and worsened mental health. Scott recognizes that humans cannot change sex and is vehemently opposed to pediatric gender interventions.
"I stand before you today [in] my most important role — as a mother." —Scott Newgent, May 5, 2025, Mayday Canada
The speakers at this event represented an impressive range of demographics: coming from east and west, they were young and old, male and female, gay and straight, and some even had the experience of living as trans. Some were motivated in their opposition to gender ideology by religious faith, but most were not.
The speakers were followed by a question-and-answer period. Approximately one hundred people were in the audience at the Mayday Town Hall, not including the speakers and the twenty-odd uniformed Biker’s Church security volunteers.
Based on the audience reaction to the speeches, and on the audience questions that followed, my impression is that most of the people in the room were new to the issue. They were of a demographic that I might once sniffily have called “Convoy types” — older white people who emerged from the pandemic convinced that Justin Trudeau had ruined Canada in a number of ways that they’re often happy to elaborate on. During the speeches, references to Jesus or God as an alternative to gender ideology were occasionally met with heartfelt "Amens" from the audience.
Given that my usual TERF milieu is among secular liberal feminists, I felt that this event was succeeding in reaching a new audience.
My favourite part of the day was speaking to the trans-identified kids on Parliament Hill. The ones I talked to were thoughtful and articulate.
Those counterprotesters were remarkably small, both in numbers and in stature. I couldn’t help but think that maybe all they needed was a friendly game of scrub on Parliament Hill, followed by a non-vegan barbecue and a campfire sing-along.
Given the eventual co-mingling of the Mayday crowd with the trans crowd, I think most of the Mayday demonstrators felt a similar protective, parental instinct toward these fragile young people who don’t seem to have much to look forward to in life other than being misgendered.
Here’s an invitation to Moss, Alex and Fuchsia-Sweatsuit Man: Would you like to do a long-form interview for Gender Dissent? We think our readers might like to read a thoughtful back-and-forth discussion between a trans-identified youth and a skeptical TERF. We think both sides would benefit from more dialogue.
Or maybe next year we just meet up again on Parliament Hill for a couple innings of slow pitch?
I’ll bring the baseball mitts.
Katherine Jameson Digby is an Ottawa-based journalist and advocate for women's sex-based rights and child safeguarding.
EDITOR'S AFTERWORD
The good
The Mayday Canada event was met with gratitude and enthusiasm by many Canadians who are pushing back against the spread of gender identity ideology across our country and through our public institutions
Jeff Evely was successful in bringing together a group of advocates from a range of experiences and motivations who oppose medical transitioning of minors. He brought their message to a new audience who may not have previously appreciated the crisis now facing families nation-wide, thanks to the careless decisions of our lawmakers and the work of federally funded lobby groups and political self-interest.
Evely and his team even managed to hold a press conference within the walls of Canada's crumbling Parliament buildings — a strategic tactic that is definitely to be commended in this hot-potato cancellation era.
Crucially, we witnessed what may have been a first in Canada and that hopefully signals a change in direction for how we engage with each other on this subject. Young trans-identifying people came to the Mayday rally on the hill with a disruptive mindset, but left with some different ideas, truthful information, and contacts that may be useful to them personally and for the child-protection/sex-realism movement as a whole.
The not so great
Like other conferences focused on the return to sex-based reason, the event was not without controversy. For Mayday, the controversy centered on Scott Newgent, who appeared as the "featured" speaker and whose face, sporting a stylin' five-o'clock-shadow, figured prominently in the promotional poster above the other panelists.
Scott maintains a transgender identity ("trans man") and uses he/him pronouns (see program bio below). The key criticisms pitched on social media and in local chat groups were of two themes:
While Scott campaigns against child medical transitioning, she successfully presents herself and operates in public as a man. This could, in turn, persuade questioning, vulnerable girls to decide to transition themselves, because, "Look at her/HIM! HE/she is so convincing! I bet I/US would/could pass, too."
Jeff Evely — per the Mayday promotional materials — refers to Scott with "he/him" pronouns and in so doing confounds the core message. It doesn't help make the case to government when this seemingly healthy and boisterous male-looking person, who continues to perform manliness [especially when on stage or in front of the camera], is telling them that they should not permit what made her the 'passing' man she is today.
Politicians are confused enough as it is.
Pronoun usage aside, the event was heralded by those in attendance as meaningful and positive. It was a day that generated hope, took down a barrier to communication between opposing activists, perhaps got the ear of a couple politicians, and possibly inspired some action.
Actually, there is a resulting action — in the form of a documentary film. An independent film crew from Free Speech Media was on the scene, shooting all day.
Good thing Scott knows how to sit like a man.
The ugly
And then there was the part after the event when @Women__Exist tried to school Jeff Evely in the importance of using truthful language when referring to people's sex. But when Evely launched the "It's all because of the feminists" grenade... well, things blew up. You can read all about it here:
You can listen to further discussion on the topic of using accurate, sex-based language in the fight against transgenderism during caWsbar's weekly XSpace, The Summit, on May 13 (starting at about @31:40):
And the unfortunate
Seems the argument weighed so heavily on Evely that, 12 days later, while on a veterans retreat in Puru, he felt it necessary to make and post a video further criticizing the women who raised concerns about the mixed messages his event relayed.
Evely decided not to bring the temperature of the debate down, but rather, turned the heat up — way up — when he chose not to exercise restraint on his own language when he described the women as "basement-dwelling bottom feeders," "odius harpies," and "feminazis." And then he proceeded to completely burn down any bridges that might have been re-buildable when stating (twice) that the original "Marxist infiltration of the universities was through the 'fat, ugly women's programs'."
Seems you can take the soldier out of the fight, but...
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