What’s Current: City of Calgary proposes bylaw to impose buffer zone to protect drag story hours

  • The City of Calgary is asking council to approve a new “Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw” which would ensure a 100-metre buffer zone be in place at any event taking place inside a city facility in order to stop protests. The proposal came in light of recent protests against Drag Queen story hours, described as “protests of hate” by Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
  • A woman named Shumirun Nessa has been subject to harassment and threats to her and her family after criticizing trans activist Jeffrey Marsh on TikTok. In a new video, she tearfully pleads to be left alone, saying, “Please don’t come to my house,” before apologizing for posting about Marsh. “Please don’t come for my kids.” Marsh is known for teaching minors how to go “no contact” with their parents, should they not agree to their child’s desire to trans. He offers “private conversations” on Patreon to this effect.
  • After a female swimmer said she was prevented from accessing a pool in Berlin topless, she lodged a complaint with the city’s ombudsman’s office at the Senate Department for Justice, Diversity, and Anti-Discrimination. Authorities agreed that the woman had been a victim of discrimination and announced that all visitors to Berlin’s pools, including women and those who identify as non-binary, can now go topless. Berlin’s state government confirmed this decision in a press release, saying:

“As a result of a successful discrimination complaint, the Berlin bathing establishments will in future apply their house and bathing regulations in a gender-equitable manner.”

Meghan Murphy

Founder & Editor

Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist from Vancouver, BC. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including The Spectator, UnHerd, Quillette, the CBC, New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and is now exiled in Mexico with her very photogenic dog.