Tewksbury Public Library Cancels Webinar, Violating Free Speech
WoLF will now be hosting the canceled talk by Dr. Gregory Brown on the biological differences between males and females in sports
On Wednesday, Oct. 2, the Tewksbury Public Library (TPL) in Massachusetts was scheduled to host a Zoom webinar titled "Males And Females Are Different And That Matters In Sports" by Dr. Gregory Brown, a professor of Exercise Science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. WoLF proudly promoted this event alongside our friends at MA for Women, standing up for truth and biological reality.
This webinar was scheduled in response to a March event featuring Erin Reed, a male transgender activist pretending to be female, who peddled the dangerous idea that men should compete in women’s sports—a direct attack on fairness and safety in female athletics.
Today, just two days before the event, registrants for the Zoom webinar received a notice from Roberty Hayes, Community Outreach Librarian, informing them that the event had been canceled. He included the following statement from the Library Director, Diane Giarrusso:
“The staff of the Tewksbury Public Library have received feedback about the program we have scheduled for Wednesday, October 2, titled "Males and Females are Different, and that Matters in Sports". We appreciate all feedback on our services, especially from residents who asked us to reconsider holding this program. This program was created to provide an alternative perspective to the one shared in a March program on this hot-button issue in our society. In considering this program and resulting comments, we discovered a lack of statistically significant research to support either viewpoint favoring or disfavoring transgender participation in sports. We determined that we cannot facilitate a factual, good-faith presentation on this topic as we had hoped. In addition, the levels of intolerance for a discussion around this issue has brought bullying to our staff. This has created a level of unhealthy pressure on our library staff that they do not deserve. We are cancelling this program in order to prevent any further stress on our staff.”
[emphasis added]
This cancellation is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
Public libraries, as government entities, are generally considered public forums where First Amendment protections apply — meaning they cannot discriminate based on the viewpoint of speech.
The Tewksbury Public Library is clear that the event was canceled due to pushback against the scheduled program — not any genuine safety concern. TPL even goes so far as to enforce its own viewpoint that there is “a lack of statistically significant research to support either viewpoint favoring or disfavoring transgender participation in sports.”
Tewksbury Public Library had no issue hosting a speaker on the topic in March who opposed women’s sports, calling the biological sex differences between males and females “myths and misinformation.” It is only when advocates for biological reality were to be platformed that suddenly there is “intolerance,” “bullying,” and “stress.”
The bullies who want to erase women’s rights will stop at nothing to shut down debate. They’ve been using this tactic for years. In 2020, WoLF faced similar cancellation from the New York Public Library - which canceled our panel on “Canceled Women.”
WoLF is Now Hosting the Canceled Speech
We refuse to let pro-women voices be canceled!
WoLF will now be hosting Dr. Gregory Brown’s talk on our own Zoom on October 2nd, 7pm Eastern Time.
Register on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkd-2uqzwrGdH06az_ggSwiF_wiSoxoIA5
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Tell Tewksbury Town Manager: Protect Free Speech!
Write a letter to the Tewksbury Town Manager, Richard Montuori, letting him know the Tewksbury Public Library is violating the First Amendment by unconstitutionally censoring debate:
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