Valerie Vande Panne’s Face Time interview with Doug Mesner of the Satanic Temple caused a stir on TST’s Facebook page.
This is why problems with religious psychos exist … you guys are makin’ gay marriage something against “god” (whatever that is in their minds), not kosher, not good. More problems will occur for the LGBT community if you guys do this. Please think before acting. Don’t be radical like those idiots. —Charlotte Rayworth, Oshkosh, Wis.
I knew he had to be from Detroit. I heard him on TV a couple of times and was impressed by how articulate he was and able to communicate his point intelligently. —Thomas Switala
To which Mesner replied:
Right. Problems with religious psychos didn’t exist until TST. It was TST that made gay marriage “against god.” Everything would just be fine for the LGBT community if TST didn’t try to defend their rights. What in the holy fuck are you saying?
MT intern Emma Ockerman wrote a blog about protests planned at the forthcoming Men’s Rights conference, to which Dean Esmay responded:
As one of the event planners, I have to say I am deeply disappointed that the leaders of the protest have refused to speak to us about their concerns, rebuffing every effort to offer them open and peaceful dialogue. Those coming to the conference and speaking include people of color, Detroit locals, people from international locations such as Brazil, India, Australia, the UK, and other countries. Queer people, straight people, women, religious, nonreligious. We support their right to protest, that is a right we all have, but as I say, we are disappointed at the same time: We offered them an olive branch, our full contact information, and a willingness to talk, and were rebuffed. For the record, the offer of speaking to and with them is genuine and will remain open... They need only contact me at my local number here in Detroit, and I will be happy to explain to them what we’re really all about and address them as fellow human beings. We hope they take us up on it.
And Frosty 2013 posted:
This petition is such a disgusting move by the feminists that it’s hard to imagine that it’s not some elaborate troll, it’s so fundamentally immoral to try and associate Elliot Rodger with the MRA or suggest that the MRA in any way condones violence against anyone, much less women, that it’s hard to imagine anyone with a functioning brain could possibly create this kind of petition with any sincerity. Alas the number of signatures seems to exceed the effort you could really expect from even the most elaborate troll, so we’re left facing the extremely sad reality that people are just this brainwashed by feminism. Protesting the right for a group to have free speech is at its core extremely immoral; this is a clear indicator that feminists do not want equality, they want power, power to silence opponents and have the only voice in society when it comes to gender issues.
And Paul Elam, publisher, A Voice for Men, posted:
As the conference’s chief organizer, I am unspeakably saddened to see individuals take the blood of innocent victims and deceitfully smear it on others for simply disagreeing with them. Their actions do, however, exemplify precisely why a conference such as ours is needed, and why we are determined to see it through.
