Updated 2024-09-20 • Kjipuktuk Halifax
Halifax's queer community is planning a response to the September 20, 2024 trans- & homophobic 1 Million March 4 Children, "1MM4C."
There's a short article from someone who was there, here.
This article is about the Halifax "counter." For information about responses elsewhere, see this article.
There are four messages to share:
- There will be a "counter" in Halifax at the location of the 1MM4C event and starting 1 hour before it.
- Plan to show up at Halifax's Grand Parade, in front of City Hall, at 1PM on Friday, September 20th. Click to zoom the image of the grand parade.
- There will be a variety of ways for you to participate. There'll be safe spaces, and brave spaces, and marshalls to ensure your safety, and several places to "decompress" or unwind afterwards.
- There will be three totally safe spaces to retreat to: 1) Art Bar, at 1873 Granville Street, 2) Radstorm at 2177 Gottingen will be providing a hot meal and snack foods starting before noon, and 3) Venus Envy, 1727 Barrington Street.
Friday, 20 September update
We are all-systems-go for an event starting at 1:00pm on the Grand Parade today! Bring a friend, bring two! take up space, make some noise! @smashtransphobiakijuptik issues a request for no racism.
Wednesday, 18 September update
There's now a Facebook event with minimal information, here.
Tuesday, 17 September update
The planning teams met on Tuesday evening; Wayves was there. Here are some notes:
- The time has changed; new time is listed above.
- During the event, there will be very safe spaces for people, and there will be brave spaces, depending on what you're up for.
- There will be marshalls and medics; the latter will have armbands.
- Attire: organizers are suggesting black and nondescript, rather than rainbow, for this event.
- There will be three totally safe spaces to retreat to: 1) Art Bar, at 1873 Granville Street, 2) Radstorm at 2177 Gottingen will be providing a hot meal and snack foods starting before noon, and 3) Venus Envy, 1727 Barrington Street.
Tell your friends, bring your friends! See you there!
Twitter account @smashtransphobiakjipuktuk says: "The anti-trans march is scheduled to start at 2pm, so we will show up at 1pm. We’re calling on our fellow queers and our accomplices to flood Grand Parade with defiant fabulousness and shut down the anti-trans hate before it begins."
2024-09-19
Twitter/X account @smashtransphobiakjipuktuk posted:
At last year’s counter-demonstration, there were chants that were racist and xenophobic in context. In particular, chants that included the phrase “Go Home” were directed at a group that visibly included immigrants, Muslims and POC.
We strongly condemn this behaviour, and are committed to making this year’s counter an actively and explicitly anti-racist action. We encourage everyone in attendance to shut down these chants if they appear again. Individuals who persist in using harmful and racist chants will be ejected from the demo.
We encourage people to wear kuffiyehs to this demonstration. Further, we encourage all attendees to show solidarity with colonized and oppressed peoples the world over, and engage in the struggle for justice and collective liberation. We must show our solidarity with migrants, and hostility to the national borders imposed by colonialism.
Migrants are not the enemy. The same far-right actors that are targeting Queer people today were targeting immigrants and Muslims yesterday, and will do so again tomorrow. We must resist these attempts to divide us and set our communities against one another. None of us are free until all of us are free.
Early September
In early September, Twitter/X account @smashtransphobiakjipuktuk posted:
no space for hate round 3
ALL OUT AGAINST TRANSPHOBIA
SEPTEMBER 20, HALIFAX, 7AM [editor: this time has been changed to 1PM] GRAND PARADE !!!
PROTECT TRANS KIDS! PROTECT TRANS YOUTH!
All out on September 20th in defense of trans youth and bodily autonomy for all! We’re doing a counterprotest and block party to take over the space and shut down anti-trans bigotry.
The same-anti trans groups that organized the so-called “1 Million March for Children” last year, on September 20th and October 21st, are once again planning a nationwide mobilization. They want to eliminate queer-inclusive education, ban life-saving healthcare, and seek to strip away trans kids’ autonomy under the guise of “parental rights” — we all know it’s owing to anti-trans prejudice and bigotry.
DO: wear a mask - come with a crew - get wild - bring noise makers - show solidarity with palestine - be prepared for confrontation - fight back.
Don't: be racist - talk to police - film/photograph our team - back down
we respect a diversity of tractics [sic] and will honour all expressions of queer rage
More details to follow soon. Watch this space and be prepared to mobilize.
