A Canadian Women’s Charity Has Invited a Man to Speak on International Women’s Day 2023

Oh Canada, not again.

On January 26, a Canadian charity called Discovery House happily tweeted that it had secured an authentic, brave, and fierce panelist for an International Women’s Day event called “She Is.” The panelist is Marni Panas, a man.

You see, Panas identifies as a woman, and is therefore somehow a good fit not only for International Women’s Day but for a charity with a stated mission to end the traumatic cycle of domestic abuse for women and children.

Dastardly TERFs soon found the tweet and questioned the decision, to which Discovery House responded that “transgendered women are women” and thanked Panas for taking part in the event.

(Hilariously enough, in 2016, Panas emphatically told Tech Life Today, “I’m not transgendered.” Oops).

The event will be taking place on Wednesday, March 8, at the Calgary Central Library. Tickets are $95.

Topics of discussion are to include the glass ceiling in global managerial positions, the underrepresentation of women in STEM, and worldwide violence against women and girls.

It is unsurprising but still disappointing to see Discovery House drink the gender Kool-Aid.

Discovery House is an Albertan, Calgary-based charity that has been operating since 1980. It has done admirable work in helping women and children fleeing domestic violence situations.

In my very first apartment, one of my fellow tenants was a First Nations woman with two young children who were living at the property with the support of Discovery House. She was an excellent mother who was working hard to get back on her feet and make a good life for her kids, who were absolutely adorable.

I can’t help but think that such a woman would be an infinitely better panelist than Panas.

Or really, any woman at all.

Panas has made a career out of not being a woman but being the special category of man known as a “trans woman.” According to his website, he is a Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional and has been involved in many significant pieces of transgender-focused legislation in Canada.

For example, Panas provided testimony in support of Bill C-16, which amended Canada’s Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code of Canada to include “gender identity and gender expression” and led directly to the transfer of males into women’s prisons.

Prior to that, Panas participated in drafting and crafting Alberta’s Bill 7, which amended the provincial Human Rights Act by striking out “gender” and replacing it with “gender, gender identity, gender expression.”

Both of these bills have been disastrous to women’s sex-based rights because they’ve essentially overwritten those rights.

And yet, a man who was involved in creating them will get to speak about hardships faced by women, as if he hasn’t added to them immensely.

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As scandalous as this may seem, it’s nothing new for Canada. In fact, it’s not even the most egregious example of men speaking for women and about women at women’s events.

This past December, Durham College in Ontario invited trans rights activist Fae Johnstone to speak at a remembrance ceremony for the 14 women massacred at École Polytechnique in 1989. The shooter specifically targeted female students, making the choice to have a male speaker a particularly unconscionable one.

But wait—it gets worse.

In 2021, a trans-identified man named Anastasia Preston was invited to speak at a Montreal Massacre memorial held by the P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

Preston had the gall to stand at the podium and recount the story of how he was once groped while wearing a red dress at a bar and how he was later told: “That’s what you get for having a cute butt.”

He stood up at a memorial for 14 women killed for being women and recounted a sexual fantasy.

Choosing men to speak for women at women’s events, especially at memorials and for women-focused charities, is a slap in the face of all women.

A man who would actually be willing to accept such a speaking opportunity is actually the worst type of man to do it. His narcissistic desire to be seen as a woman means that he doesn’t stop to think about whether he is actually harming women.

And without a doubt, these men are harming women.

The fact that a charity established specifically to help and protect women and their children who are fleeing, the vast majority of the time, from male violence, sees fit to elevate a man’s voice on International Women’s Day of all days is a tragedy and a reflection of how far down the gender rabbit hole Canada truly is.