Police will be present at Toronto library event featuring controversial speaker
Posted October 29, 2019 1:35 pm.
Toronto police officers will be on the scene of a controversial event that has sparked tensions between the city’s public library and the LGTBQ community.
The Toronto Public Library has come under intense fire in recent weeks for agreeing to host an event featuring freelance writer Meghan Murphy.
The self-described feminist, who is opposed to rights for transgender people, will be giving a talk on gender identity hosted by a grouped dubbed Radical Feminists Unite.
LGBTQ community members and their allies say publicly funded spaces shouldn’t be used as a platform for hatred, and are planning a protest tonight.
But the library has maintained that it has a duty to uphold principles of free speech and is allowing the talk to proceed.
Toronto police Const. Victor Kwong says officers will be inside and outside the event tonight in order to “keep the peace.”
This report by the Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2019.
The Canadian Press
