Yesterday, a flare-up on Twitter revealed the Honey Badger Brigade, a satiric group supporting men’s rights, managed to have a booth at Calgary Expo with merchandise featuring the GamerGate logo and its Vivian James mascot. In addition to selling GamerGate-themed merch, the Honey Badger Brigade appeared at the “Women Into Comics” panel, where according to The Mary Sue, panelist Brittney Le Blanc indicated a woman identifying herself as a men’s rights activist interrupted the presenters 15 minutes in, derailing the Q&A. The rest of the session was then dominated by two members of the group, whose questions were unrelated to the material discussed at the panel.
Calgary Expo features signs that say neither physical nor verbal harassment will be tolerated and have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #ExpoEquality. Wide reports on social media, along with an official statement from the Expo indicates that Honey Badger Brigade was ejected from the site, but not until after the damage had been done.
The Calgary Expo is a positive and safe event for everyone. We have reason to believe that the Exhibitor in question does not fall in line with this mandate… so we have politely requested that they not participate in our show or future shows. We continue to build a positive and fun even for everyone.
We have evidence that the group in question was actively disregarding our mandate. We support free speech—and continue to promote equality across the board. Their removal from the show had zero to do with gender, and everything to do with our show policies, which apply to all exhibitors and attendees.
We are very proud of our initiative for #ExpoEquality and we wish everyone a happy, safe and fun Expo. (Source: https://twitter.com/Calgaryexpo/status/589152381243260928)
The Honey Badger Brigade gained intro to the Expo after applying for a vendor spot under false pretenses as a webcomic, but the group’s entire visit was predicated on a crowdfunding campaign, Feed the Badger. The original message from that campaign reads:
In April of this year, the Honey Badgers plan to put on a booth at the Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo! We plan to infiltrate nerd culture cunningly disguised as their own. Each of us has been carefully crafting a persona of nerdiness through decades of dedication to comics, science fiction, fantasy, comedy games and other geekery, waiting for this moment, our moment to slip among the unaware. Once there we will start distributing the totalitarian message that nerd and gamer culture is… perfectly wonderful just as it is and should be left alone to go it’s [sic] own way.
Not only was the group ejected, their booth was also dismantled. The only remaining evidence in the empty space left behind is one of Calgary Expo’s harassment notices: “Costumes do not equal consent.”
[UPDATE, April 19] There’s a lot happening with this continuing story.
Calgary Expo is now facing backlash from some sectors, with attacks against factions defending the Expo and claims of “misogyny” against women who support men’s rights. The Honey Badger Brigade has released an official statement, writing that,
“Security staff approached the HBB booth, ordered us to leave, and refused to state the reason why unless Alison Tieman agreed to speak to them away from the other members of the group, without recording. They informed Alison that they had received complaints on social media, including 25 allegations of harassment. No evidence was presented, no request was made for information from HBB, and no specific incident was cited until further questions were asked of security.”
The group has made Alison’s “full” statement (a 0:47 video clip) at the panel available, along with a static-laden recording of the entire panel. Around the 18:30 mark, you can hear the members of the Honey Badger Brigade take control of the discussion, speaking and responding several times in the middle of the panel (update: a transcript has surfaced).
Honey Badger Brigade uploaded a video of Alison Tieman called “Banned for Not Damselling,” in which she explains how she was victimized by the Expo and has now come under assault for her atypical gender presentation, which she likens at one point to being transgender. She addresses the original paperwork, stating she did not know which banner she would hold a booth under, but there’s no real address of the Expo plans that were published, the purported mission of the HBB, or the backing from A Voice for Men, nor is the group’s mission, which seems to lie in direct opposition to Expo goals, addressed; Tieman only says she wanted to share her view of women protecting men and then talks about the experience.
This is a developing story; please check back for further updates.
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2 thoughts on “Female MRAs under GamerGate Banner Ejected from Calgary Expo [UPDATE]”
“We support free speech—and continue to promote equality across the board.”
…by removing groups that have opinions we think would be unpopular for us not to eject? I don’t think that is how free speech works.
There are many reasons they were ejected, depending on the versions one reads; none of them seem to hinge on the version you’re putting forward in your comment. Misfiling paperwork or misrepresenting goals is enough reason for any event to eject a booth. Selling merch with messages that go directly against stated goals is another good reason, and while perhaps you feel that’s a free speech issue, damaging speech is a whole other issue. Even so, the harassment complaints are the most cited reason, not the merch, not the message, and I know when I go to a panel at any event, I’m not there to hear someone in the audience. I’m there to hear the panelists. Questions can enhance a session, but “You want us to field this?” near the beginning of the panel is not that approach.
All systems have rules. The HBB broke a number of them.