Is A Voice for Men using phony “death threats” allegedly directed at those planning to attend its upcoming “Men’s Issues” conference in Detroit, as well as upon employees and guests of the hotel where it’s scheduled to be held, as an excuse to smear feminists and raise a quick $25,000 in donations from readers and possibly even from a handful of gullible feminists?
As incredible as that sounds, that’s what some people I respect are saying. Despite AVFM’s history of lying about alleged feminist threats – you may recall John Hembling’s infamous confrontation with an imaginary mob of 20-30 feminists brandishing boxcutters – I’m not willing to go that far.
But there’s a lot about the story that makes no sense, and some big questions that need convincing answers.
1) The Doubletree Fort Shelby hotel has not confirmed that the letter Paul Elam posted on his site several days ago, and which he has now removed, actually came from them. The letter is, so far, the only evidence that there were any threats.
Hotel management needs to confirm whether or not they sent this letter to Elam.
2) Both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press spoke to Detroit Police spokesman Adam Madera, who told them that the police had not received any reports of death threats from the hotel. He told both papers that hotel staff had asked about hiring off-duty officers for security but hadn’t specified why.
Hotel management needs to confirm either that 1) they got death threats and didn’t report them or 2) that they got no such threats. They should also confirm whether their calls about off-duty police officers were related to the “Men’s Issues” conference.
There are a few other clues that support the “hoax” theory, though they’re far from definitive:
Several people who have allegedly contacted the hotel to ask about the threat say that the managers they spoke to knew nothing about the threats. Even if these reports are true, this may not be significant; managers may not have been told about threats related to a conference many weeks off.
The Detroit News also spoke to the owner of the hotel, and he said he was unaware of any threats. That may not be significant either; he may simply be out of the loop.
Essentially, we’re waiting for the Doubletree Fort Shelby management to answer these questions. If you look at the news coverage so far you’ll notice that the hotel staffers who can answer these questions don’t seem to be answering their phones or returning calls. I left a message for them today as well. No reply yet.
The other bits of evidence we’re waiting for? Well, the letter Elam claims he got from hotel management says that he and the other conference organizers need to send the hotel proof that they’ve hired the required number of Detroit police officers to handle security, as well as proof that they have also paid for at least $2 million in liability insurance. They have to have this done by the 6th.
In light of all the questions still swirling around, I think people are going to want to see this proof too.
It may be that the hotel comes forward and confirms that the letter was real, that the threats were real, and that indeed A Voice for Men does have to shell out $25,000 for extra security. It may even be the case that it was a feminist or a group of feminists making the threats. But we don’t know. And right now the people who do know are either not talking — or they have pretty much no credibility. Let’s hope the silence ends soon, because there’s no way the not-so-good folks at AVFM are suddenly going to turn credible overnight.
EDIT: I toned down some of the language, which I think was detracting from my main points, and added a new final paragraph.
EDIT 2: Removed some speculation. We’ll know some of the answers soon enough; no need to speculate.
UPDATE: DOUBLETREE STATEMENT
So I’ve heard back from Atiya Frederick, the PR Manager for Embassy Suites Hotels & DoubleTree, and she’s made clear that the hotel won’t be answering specific questions about any of this just yet. Here’s what she sent me.
At this time we are confining our comments on this matter to the below statement …
Hilton Worldwide strives to operate meeting places for people from all walks of life, regardless of beliefs, race, color, national origin, religion or sexual orientation. The views of our guests do not reflect the sentiment of Hilton Worldwide. As places of public accommodation, our hotels do not discriminate against any individual or group. Our goal is to provide quality accommodations and a pleasant environment for our guests, employees and members of our community . We would like to emphasize that we strive to be an inclusive company and regret if this policy has unintentionally offended any individual or organization.
This statement seems to be their standard response when they host a conference by a controversial group.
Also, bad people == loons. It’s mean to both loons and aneurotypicals, who are mostly harmless.
…unless they are a super secret spy loon.
RE: auggziliary
Jesus had a headache.
By the end of it, so did hubby. (He’s Christian, but all the queer-affirming churches had to march BEHIND these chucklefucks. Fucking parade organizers.)
@Howard, I voted for Margaret Thatcher (or, anyway for the conservative candidate which meant the same thing). The alternative was Michael Foot but even so …
Yeah, we’ve all done fucked-up things at some point. In my case, I was a pro-life rape survivor because I saw it as a perfectly reasonable punishment to raise a child at sixteen because I was raped.
I mean, why not? I felt so shitty already, why SHOULDN’T I be a teenage single parent on top of it? I felt like I deserved it, and the hypothetical child didn’t. Also, by that age, I was already used to being treated as a mini-adult who was solely responsible for everything; why wouldn’t I be responsible for a kid too?
Then I realized that it was bullshit and nobody should be forced to raise a child for any reason at all. Happy ending!
I don’t think I know any Tea Partiers, but I do know some Alberta Wild Rose supporters (very similar party) and they’re the worst. Greedy, entitled racists who will throw children’s education under the bus in favour of parents having total control over their kids lives. Every single one of them. I will speak badly of them all day long, because they’re bad people.
The Teabaggers and their ilk both confuse the hell out of me, and make me really, really glad to be Canadian.
Wow, LBT, I’m really glad you were able to get your head together over all that! Survivor hugs, where appropriate.
I’m going through my head for the stupidest, most fucked up thing I’ve done… That fireplay performance that I did on myself was poorly thought out, in retrospect. But vitamin E works wonders, and there isn’t even any scarring left! 😀
LBT,
If only the now us’es could go back and help the then us’es, right?
Bless her heart, that girl got me here and I appreciate that, but then me was a very confused person.
Like so.
RE: Winter Walker and Lea
It’s okay; it was a long time ago. It’s just way easier to end up in those places than a lot of folks think. At least I mostly had my head on straight by the time I could drink! Yech.
And Lea, I actually have this ancient old letter, written from the mythical original girl back before I existed. She asked a bunch of questions about how we were doing, and it was very satisfying to write her back, even though I know she can never read the letter. I think Tiny Us would’ve been absolutely boggled to know where we are now.
I was a fundamental Christian in my teens. I believed the Earth to be less than 10,000 years old. I thought the world was run by evil satan-worshipping atheists who oppressed Christians and wanted to destroy traditional marriage. I believed in a “gay agenda”, for crying out loud. I was so self-absorbed, ignorant and irrational that looking back makes me cringe.
I think the only aspect of the asshole that was teen me that made me remotely sympathetic was the fact that I hated myself the most, and took out all my anger on myself, never on anyone else. If the tea bagger types were doing that instead of being zits on the face of human decency, they would have my sympathies.
My deepest secret that I keep hidden from people who know me because I’m so ashamed: I was also a fundamentalist Christian in my teenage years, same as Anarchonist, along with the whole the pope is the anti-Christ stuff as well. I came of voting age when the law was being changed to legalise homosexuality, and my church had petitions against it. I took one and got my tertiary studies class to sign it.
I cognitively know I was indoctrinated at the time, but my whole being feels like I should have known that this was morally wrong. And I still mentally beat myself up about it.
I think most atheists go through a mega douche phase.
Its part if the process.
I never really had what I would call a fundie phase, but I did have a sanctimonious, I’m-better-than-you-because-I’m-atheist phase. It was made even worse by the fact that my big sister was going through a sanctimonious, I’m-better-than-you-because-I’m-a-Christian phase. But we grew out of them- at least I hope we did. And I also grew out of my overly-judgy anti-drug phase, which is good. I was pretty annoying and cringeworthy at that age. I still am, actually, but in different ways.
ncc1701d: I know what you mean. I grew up in Alberta, and considered myself a moderate. Moved to the US in 2000, started paying attention to politics after 9/11. I started to wonder if all conservatives had been this bad. Moved back to Canada, and realized no… the US Republican Party is a special brand of terrible.
Still, the Conservatives up here are getting worse. The provincial PC candidate here in Ontario is promising a million jobs by cutting taxes, firing public sector employees, and calling a halt to wind power development, the same failed reactionary policies we see in the US.
They’re just nicer about it here. 😛
I’m lucky, the only phases I really went through that were truly cringeworthy were my “holier-than-thou” atheist phase (I’m actually agnostic now), my “look at me im better man material cuz i don’t do makeup and i don’t like to shop or gossip perfect girlfriend xD” phase, my “using gay as an insult phase”, and my slut shaming phase. Luckily those were all in middle school for the most part.
If you are going to ask people to hand over $25,000 you are going to need some real proof that you aren’t just trying to scam people.
Also a former evangelical. Actually spoke in tongues. Believed the rapture was coming any day.
Don’t beat yourself up about things you believed as a child. You don’t beat yourself up for believing in Santa, right? Or for watching cartoons? We grow up and become different people.
@Delphi Ote
“…Or for watching cartoons?”
Pfft, cartoons are great.
I don’t know why the manboobzer cult believes that anyone owes them proof of anything.
However, as someone who has saved up a few pennies to go to the conference, I do appreciate all this attention, I’m beginning to feel like a superstar. I can hardly wait to hear what Senator Anne Cools (Canada’s longest serving senator and the first black Canadian ever appointed to the upper house) has to say during her address to the conference. She’s been a hero of mine for years and I’m finally going to get to meet her. 🙂
Still watch them.
Why yes, I am a taxpaying, apartment owning, working adult. Why do you ask?
Mine just had a switchblade and an attitude, but yes.
People really love accusing feminists of being violent and making death threats whenever they get the chance. But no one ever seems to be able to come up with any evidence to this end aside from a tiny spike in girls smacking each other in school, online arguing, abortion (if you call that violence – I don’t), and Valerie Solanas, who shot Andy Warhol (without killing him) over 40 years ago now. So that’s one non-fatal shooting in over a century of feminism vs…. how many?
Meh, the douchy atheist phase is probably much more common when few people are raised atheist and there is more pushback against it.
I was raised atheist and it wasn’t really an issue except when I was forced to go along with Christian things, in which case it was hard not to be angry at Christianity for it. My Muslim friends never pushed anything on me – I went to a tiny primary school with quite a few Somalian kids so the atheists and Muslims would hang out in the library during the bible class. We still had to sing Christian songs and go to the Easter play unless your parent could pick you up, and I was not impressed. 😛
I guess it’s nice to know that if Neo-Nazi’s or the Klan want to hold a conference, the Doubletree Detroit won’t discriminate against them.
From the Spearhead, Price damns with faint praise, “Although I’ve had my differences with Paul Elam in the past, he is not that dishonest,…” Only somewhat dishonest? Huh?
But Price has bought a ticket on the fantasy roller coaster too, “I think this calls for an investigation. I’m not sure we can convince the feds to do it, but it’s about time this intimidation and extortion gets a hard look from authorities, even if we have to shame them into it. I’d like to see how the feminists react when one of their own is hauled off in leg irons for making terroristic threats or committing criminal extortion.” [comments section] http://www.the-spearhead.com/2014/06/04/feminists-resort-to-accusing-avfm-of-wire-fraud/