Freedom of speech means the right to criticize what other people are saying. But it might not always be the best use of your time.

Over the weekend, three threads were started on the Halifax subreddit (two now with the author’s account deleted), all regarding the same paranoid ravings that anarchist feminists are destroying free speech in this city.
“In the past few years, moral hygiene activists for the promotion of virtue and elimination of vice, orchestrated a string of political campaigns to abolish concerts, comedy shows and parties at nightclubs, which the activists deemed to be degenerate,” reads one post, about controversial events for Chris Brown and “The Slut Whisperer.”
Two further posts contain near identical language and match an email sent to The Coast over the weekend. All three pay lip service to Rehtaeh Parsons and the Dalhousie dentistry scandal before decrying how the author is “watching a city crumble to the demands of some angry young Dal students.”
The author’s hyperbolic concern stems from recent protests about the upcoming Daniel Tosh shows June 11 and 12 at the Rebecca Cohn. Last week, a group identified as “Halifax anarcho-feminists” hung some banners around town in protest of what they call Tosh’s transphobic and misogynistic comedy.
Daniel Tosh is the American performer who came under fire in 2012 for being the then-latest male comedian trying to crack the code of telling really funny rape jokes. He did not succeed.
Now, the “Maritime Anarchist Initiative” is planning a demonstration Thursday afternoon in protest of Tosh’s shows. They’ll be meeting at 1pm at the dentistry clinic on University Avenue and marching to the Henry Hicks Building.
“This is completely unacceptable,” writes spokesperson Storm Paradise in a release about Tosh’s upcoming shows. “Unlike Dalhousie, we’re committed to fighting misogyny, rape culture, and transphobia on campus and everywhere else. We invite everyone who cares about the safety of women and trans people to join us in the streets.”
While Dalhousie University owns the venue, it’s perhaps worth mentioning that by all indications the institution isn’t involved in organizing the event. Still, damn poor timing for the school.
It’s unclear if the Maritime Anarchist Initiative is affiliated with the Halifax anarcho-feminists (as much as anarchist organizations can be affiliated, that is). Between the two groups and multiple Reddit threads, this may be the most serious attention anyone’s been paying to Daniel Tosh since Brickleberry got cancelled.
Tickets, meanwhile, are still available for Tosh’s four [!] shows on June 11 and 12, at $61 each [!!].
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Just watched his act on YT. He seems to be a very good comedian, with a well developed and highly polished act.
An alternate headline might have been “Some weirdos think a very minor comedian might actually incite men to commit rape!!!!!!”
And considering that this very broadsheet was giving very genteel exposure to the apologists for a certain convicted rapist lawyer at the very same time it was inciting torches and pitchforks at the School of Dentistry, you probably shouldn’t be advising anybody on either “freedom of speech” or “the best use of time”.
Full props to the subreddit guy for his “promotion of virtue and elimination of vice” reference. Mint, that was.
And I suppose we have to give full props to the H^lif^x anarcho-feminist collective? gaggle? autonomous fighting cells, Ch’potle Puck’ Dr’p International Brigadistas?(Not sure what the plural form of femnminist anarchist is- sorry) They must have had a very busy week between making the anti-Tosh banners and getting prepared for Saturday’s demonstration about why it’s wrong for the government to limit what we can say, think or be exposed to. Such industriousness. You gals will make some comrade a terrific wife, someday
People on both sides, those who really have strong opinions on this, have too much time on their hands. Daniel Tosh is generally unfunny and kind of offensive but censorship is a slippery slope. When we start banning media because just because it is offensive, who’s going to decide what is offensive?
i agree with this group, Dalhousie is just being completely hypocritical.
to quote the Dalhousie “Culture of Respect” webpage
“We hold ourselves to a higher standard than what we’ve witnessed at our university. Misogyny in our classrooms, on our campus and in our community is unacceptable. This is not who we are.”
as far as i can tell no one is calling for government censorship here, so the “free speech” argument is pretty misplaced. Dalhousie has every right to rent it’s facility to whoever it wants, but they also have every right, and responsibility, to look into the histories of performers they rent to.
A quick google search reveals that Tosh is well known for misogynist and transphobic jokes, including rape jokes, and on one occasion even threatened an audience member with gang rape. If Dalhousie is unwilling to put in the effort to find this out, or if they do not care, then all of their statements about fighting misogyny on campus are meaningless.
@ Eliza (Doolittle?) Emma (Goldman, of course) Duritti (actually spelled Durruti)
I hear his show has gotten a lot better now that Charlize Theron gets most of the stage time, and essentially tells him what to do for 2 hours.
And there is a hell of big gulf between laughing at a grotesque, over the top comment to a heckler and treating it as a command.
It is embarassing to live in this whiney city.
I completely agree, Halifax is full of a bunch of babies. If you don’t like tosh don’t go, it’s that simple. But don’t go on trying to ban him from our city because he offends YOU… Simply ridiculous!
Never heard of Daniel Tosh until reading this article. After watching a dozen or more of his clips I’d say he’s a top level comedian. There is even a clip of him working on a bit with George Carlin. He has almost 10 million likes on facebook. The Coast has almost 19 thousand. The Coast calling him a “minor celebrity” is truly laughable.
I don’t think the author of this article even read the information he speaks on, besides the bits he picked out to quote. Even if his opinion differed from his writing, the coast would likely not allow it to be printed. Seeing as the coast’s reader base is made up largely of hipsters and activists, they can’t risk offending a fan base who couldn’t be bothered with a paper that costs more than free. If the coast truly stands behind this cause, I say they fully sponsor all protests and events concerning this event.
So, to hipster SJWs like the article’s author and the eternally enraged feminazis, free speech is for weirdos.
@ Eliza
Get in touch! maritimeanarchistinitiative@gmail.com
Exclamation [!] points [!!] is journalism now [?]
a) I didn’t know Dweezil was coming here.
b) I think its awesome that this comedian that nobody knows about commands 61 bucks over four nights compared to a 41 dollar one night show of local rock god superstar plasket.
Dumb article. Go back to making maps of notable smells.
Q) How many Anarcho-Feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A)None, because:
1)It reinforces traditional cis-binary paradigms.
2)It’s triggery
3)A decision of this magnitude can only be acted upon with a full quorum of the entire collective.
4)They really are much happier squatting in the dark blaming patriarchal capitalism.
“Never retreat, never explain, never apologize- get the thing done and let them howl.”
Nellie McClung
“When you tear out a man’s tongue you are not proving him a liar. You are only telling the world that you fear what he might say” – Tyrion Lannister
If you’re going to ban a comedian, ban that asswagon who breaks watermelons. Even Shemp Howard is funnier than that creep, ffs.