Although there have been some signs lately of better dialogue when it comes to differences over sexuality issues in Austin, a group of women's activists again find themselves persona non grata.
Even as Austin ISD is inviting employees, parents, and students to attend the city's Austin Pride march, and as the city has begun drumming up calls for citizens to report "hate crimes" this week, not all taxpayer voices will be included in this subsidized event.
According to speakers for the Let Women Speak rally, for their views on gender rights to be celebrated, they will have to host their own event concurrently with the officially sanctioned Austin Pride parade this Saturday at 7 p.m. The location has not yet been announced, organizers say, due to safety precautions.
Speeches at the rally will center around "erasure of womanhood in the public sphere, the mutilation of healthy bodies, and lack of protection for our sex-based rights." Their detractors have called such advocates TERFs -- short for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists, describing both their identification with feminism and their refusal to kowtow to the orthodoxy of high-dollar LGBTQ lobby groups and supporters of youth transition surgery and procedures.
Pressure has also come from the tech industry, as the rally has twice been de-platformed. According to a press release, an event RSVP page was unpublished by San Franciscco-based Eventbrite in July for alleged "hateful, dangerous, or violent content.” Bitly, a New York-based company, denied a replacement event page access to a shortened URL last week. These actions mirror a wider trend of social media companies canceling online promotions due to their political and social content.
"We will not be harassed or intimidated by New York and San Francisco tech companies! Come show your support and exercise your First Amendment rights along with us here in Austin," said Michelle Evans, organizer of Let Women Speak, and a 2022 Republican candidate for Texas House of Representatives from Williamson County. "It has never been a more critical time for women to speak out about the erasure of womanhood in the public sphere, the mutilation of healthy bodies, and lack of protection for our sex-based rights."
Featured speakers include: Amy Sousa, Tracy Shannon, Prisha Mosley, Keri Smith, MaryLou Singleton, Gabrielle Clark, Isabella Malbin, Amie Ichikawa, and Laura Becker. The event is sponsored by Independent Women's Network and the conservative Texas Family Project.
A press release from the City of Austin stated: "Join the City of Austin and The Austin Pride Foundation for the 33rd Austin Pride Parade on Saturday, August 12. The parade is a vibrant conclusion to a week-long series of events celebrating and honoring LGBTQ+ members of our greater Austin community. The Pride Parade will begin at 8 p.m. at the Texas Capitol building on 11th Street and Congress Avenue, proceed down Congress Avenue, and end at the Ann Richards bridge at Cesar Chavez Street."
"We will not be harassed or intimidated by New York and San Francisco tech companies! Come show your support and exercise your First Amendment rights along with us here in Austin," said Michelle Evans, organizer of Let Women Speak, and a 2022 Republican candidate for Texas House of Representatives from Williamson County. "It has never been a more critical time for women to speak out about the erasure of womanhood in the public sphere, the mutilation of healthy bodies, and lack of protection for our sex-based rights."
Featured speakers include: Amy Sousa, Tracy Shannon, Prisha Mosley, Keri Smith, MaryLou Singleton, Gabrielle Clark, Isabella Malbin, Amie Ichikawa, and Laura Becker. The event is sponsored by Independent Women's Network and the conservative Texas Family Project.
A press release from the City of Austin stated: "Join the City of Austin and The Austin Pride Foundation for the 33rd Austin Pride Parade on Saturday, August 12. The parade is a vibrant conclusion to a week-long series of events celebrating and honoring LGBTQ+ members of our greater Austin community. The Pride Parade will begin at 8 p.m. at the Texas Capitol building on 11th Street and Congress Avenue, proceed down Congress Avenue, and end at the Ann Richards bridge at Cesar Chavez Street."
While many cities will host their sanctioned gay rights events in June annually, Austin has held theirs in August well-before efforts to designate a national Pride Month. Austin ISD holds its own Pride Week in the spring in addition to recognizing June as Pride Month and celebrating Austin Pride Week in August, claiming it is all for youth safety reasons and not to instruct students.
For more information on the Let Women Speak Rally and to RSVP: https://getgroupibackup.sitehome.co/letwomenspeakatxv2.
Flyer for the Let Women Speak rally:
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We strongly support the First Amendment. But we ask that you keep it friendly and PG.