Brief clashes of fighting, along with shouting and screaming were the scene for the 2023 International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in Calgary on Wednesday.
A small number of protesters and right-wing social media activists led by Ontario anti-transgender activist Josh Alexander, along with Solidarity Movement of Alberta candidate for Calgary-Lougheed Nathaniel Pawlowski, marched on Western Canada High School to protest the day.
They were met by a large number of members of Calgary’s LGBTQ2S+ community, alongside counter-protesters and activists frequently seen at many of the city’s clashes over drag and transgender rights.
Local community organizer James Demers took offence at Alexander’s appearance at Western Canada High School, along with that of Pawlowski.
“They showed up at the school to irritate teenagers who care about other people to get footage to put on YouTube to make money,” he said.
Alexander had posted to social media on May 14 a poll about which Calgary high school he would visit for what he claimed was an international walkout protest against “biological men using women’s restrooms and changerooms.”
On Twitter, Alexander describes himself as a social media influencer. The link he uses for his profile is for a Give Send Go fundraising campaign.
Demers said that he believed that Alexander had purposefully targeted the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia for his protest at Western Canada High School.
“May 17 was originally called The Day of Silence, and the way that it was organized—and that’s the irony of this—is it was a silent protest for LGBT kids in order to show how many of us there were,” he said.
“I do think that they picked this day for that deliberately. But what’s interesting about the way that they spoke about this day is they ignored the international part, the homophobia part, and they just focused on ‘we’re going to make a mess about trans people,’ which is not only cherry picking, but also that’s not what the day is about in the community holistically.”
Michelle Robinson, host of the Native Calgarian podcast, attended the counter-protest against Alexander and Pawlowski that was held across the street from Western Canada High on 17 Avenue SE.
“It’s just disappointing that out of the 365 days of the year that they would come today and basically spread their hate towards children who may identify as homosexual, transgender, bisexual, or just trying to figure out who they are with their sexuality in general,” she said.
“I think it’s really hurtful to our community, to the queer community in general, that people would want to do this type of painful reminder that they’re not welcome to be who they are when they actually are.”
Alexander was briefly detained by police before being released
Alexander was briefly detained by police after getting into a scuffle with LGBTQ2s+ activists after he attempted to push through the group of counter-protesters that had assembled a half-hour earlier in front of the school.
“During the event, a fight broke out between several individuals of opposing views. Two people were taken into custody and released without charge. The investigations remain ongoing,” said the Calgary Police Service.
“Officers further separated the opposing groups to increase the distance between them. No further physical altercations occurred during the rest of the event, which concluded around 1 p.m.”
Alexander was released by police, before continuing his protest across the street from Western Canada High School. That protest drew hundreds of students before school staff asked students to return to the school grounds before 1 p.m.
Calgary-Lougheed candidate Pawlowski, along with other individuals in his group—one wearing a patch from alt-right accelerationist group Diagolon—were separated from counter-protesters by police in front of Western Canada High School.
Pawlowski was not one of those persons detained by police, nor was he stopped from using a loudspeaker system to speak directly to students.
He claimed that the police turned their back on protecting the rights of individuals like himself to gather peacefully.
“We’re here (to) actually hand out Bibles, hand out tracts.”
The Calgary Police Service said that they recognize the rights of everyone to assemble peacefully.
“The Calgary Police Service recognizes the Charter rights of everyone to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The overall objective is to work with all parties to ensure public and officer safety and to maintain orderly conduct and peace. We police behaviour, not beliefs.”
Pawlowski later then shouted at some of the students who were speaking towards him in favour of LGBTQ2S+ rights, that they were being sinful.
“The youth have had enough of this, pushing this down our throats on every aspect of society. You freak out when anyone disagrees with you. You can’t even handle that someone has a different opinion than you,” he said.
“You fall apart, you break apart when someone has a different opinion.”
Among the claims made by other speakers at the protest were ones that have been frequently made at other protests against the drag community and against the transgender community.
“Centering it on trans people is just an excuse to try to raise ire,” said Demers.
“You’ve seen this with the reading with royalty protests, that’s about trans people’s access to public space, the same thing with the protest of Canyon Meadows.”
He said that gender identity is a non-issue for Canadians, having already been protected in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“This is not something that is on the table. It’s not something that makes anyone unsafe except the people that are being made unsafe by these fascists,” he said.
Not all Western Canada High School students were against Alexander
A small number of boys attending Western Canada High School waited until the protests and counter-protests wrapped up at around 1 p.m. to speak to him, take selfies, and shake his hand.
One student from Western Canada High School was detained by police after throwing an item into a crowd of people.
Demers said that he didn’t condemn those students for engaging with Alexander.
“I don’t believe those kids actually want to see their colleagues and the people they go to school with suffer and die because of the policies that these people want to push,” he said.
“I don’t think they actually believe that. I think they’re 14, 15 and 16, and there’s a lot of activity happening in front of their school and there’s police and fire and media, and they’re getting caught up in it.”
He said what was relevant was the grown adults who came to the school to attack and provoke.
Robinson said that she was proud of the students who did stand up for LBTQ2S+ rights, and directly against the anti-transgender protesters.
“I watched those folks that came here and get eaten alive actually by our youth, which I absolutely expected, and I’m really proud of the youth for not getting violent with them,” she said.
Photos of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia events at Western Canada High School
