A FULL HOUSE FOR FEMINISM 2020

Ani O'Brien, Melissa Derby, Meghan Murphy and Holly Lawford-Smith.

Meghan Murphy.

It was a full house for Feminism 2020 in Wellington last night.

AFTER MASSEY University abruptly blocked Speak up for Women from holding Feminism 2020 on its Wellington campus, the group were suddenly left without a venue. However ACT MP David Seymour, concerned that Speak Up for Women were being denied their democratic right to publicly express their views, came to the rescue. He booked Feminism 2020 into the Banquet Hall at Parliament.

Canadian journalist and activist Meghan Murphy spoke to a full house. She was joined by Dr Holly Lawford-Smith, Dr Melissa Derby and Speak Up for Women spokesperson Ani O'Brien.

Meghan Murphy told the audience that 'Modern feminism is the opposite of what women fought for. We no longer need rights because they’re for white feminists! The Left has lost sight of its goals of addressing class inequality....I want people to be free to be themselves and live in a way that feels authentic to them. I am not anti trans, I am anti an ideology that says women don’t exist and don’t matter.'

Melissa Derby (Ngati Ranginui) commented that '...identity politics is creating an increasingly polarised community. The ultimate minority is the individual. We must not tolerate a world where we are demonised for asking questions.'  Melissa Derby is an academic at the University of Canterbury and a member of the New Zealand Psychological Society, and the New Zealand Association for Research in Education.

'Liberal ideas of equality between “genders” and choice of gender are not liberating. The alternative is to remain firmly materialist and to reject gender roles entirely. We won’t get to a better world by pretending,' Holly Lawford-Smith told the event. She is a senior lecturer in political philosophy at the University of Melbourne. You can read the text of her address here.

Meghan Murphy also appeared on Newshub Nation on Saturday. You can read text of the interview here. Interestingly, Newshub Nation says that it asked representatives of several trans and rainbow groups to engage in a debate with Meghan. Apparently no one was available.