Hear Emiliann Lorenzen report on the Speakers' Corner event held in Madison, WI on April 23rd from this last story in WLRN's world news segment for this month.
On April 23rd, an estimated 100 women and trans activists gathered at the top of State Street for an event modeled after the famous Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, London, where ordinary citizens debate the issues of the day.
In contrast to how citizens often behave in London, the trans activists used noise-makers, bull horns, and whistles to attempt to silence the women speaking. Despite this, Jenna DiQuarto and K. Yang took charge of the situation, and WLRN was able to produce high-quality video and audio of the women speaking, even with the distractions and noise all around them.
Thistle Pettersen applied for and received a City of Madison permit for the event, but the police did not honor the permit, saying that their higher priority was to "keep the peace" by allowing the trans activists to take up the permitted space in a disruptive manner.
In this audio segment dedicated to the Madison Speakers' Corner, you will hear the police speaking with Jenna DiQuarto, K. Yang, and Thistle, as the police explain and we question them about them not honoring the permit.
At the beginning of the event, the women decided to get up on the steps in front of the giant TRA banner and begin singing “Woman, adult human female” in a rousing chorus. Upon discovering that the TRAs did not retaliate against this bold move, the women and TRAs began to mix and mingle a bit, as women attempted to have open dialogue and conversation with some of them.
View the entire event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V37Ssq30aIE&t=462s.
There were no local or national media present for this historic event since there is a well-documented media blackout in Madison of lesbian and radical feminist views, news, and commentary.
Hear excerpts of the speeches in this segment produced and narrated by Jenna DiQuarto after enjoying a rousing chorus of "If it wasn't for the Women" by Alix Dobkin.
