The annual Take Back the Night march protests violence against women, but women aren’t the only ones who want to participate.
Members of the transgender and transsexual communities have also been victims of assault or sexual violence, along with some men. Even people of all genders and sexualities who haven’t been victims of violence want to show their opposition to a world where anyone fears walking alone at night.
To ensure that everyone who wants to participate feels comfortable in the Take Back the Night march, the ASUO Women’s Center has divided the march into three different sections — a women-only section, a gender-queer section and a gender-neutral section — so each group has its own space.
“It started out as a woman-only event because we were, and are, afraid to walk alone at night,” said Erin Dury, the sexual violence prevention and education coordinator for the Women’s Center. “But it’s now kind of evolved to include men too because there’s lots of male feminists.”
But the march organization could be changed if enough people attend today’s public forum on Take Back the Night and oppose sectioning off the march. The meeting will be held in the EMU Board Room from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Dury said she is uncertain whether a decision will be reached at the meeting, adding that the public’s input on how to organize the march will greatly influence the final decision.
Senior Tanya Widger, a women’s and gender studies major, said she thinks the march should include a women-only space because some women feel uncomfortable around men. She added that changing the organization of the march to lump everyone together would keep some women from participating.
“It would defeat the purpose (of the march) because, historically, it has been an event for ending the violence against women,” Widger said.
She added that the whole point of Take Back the Night is to empower women, and that goal is compromised if any woman feels uncomfortable participating in a march where she is around a man.
ASUO Multicultural Advocate Austin Shaw-Phillips said he supports keeping the march divided into different sections.
“I think the line separations allow as many people as possible to participate in the march without violating the integrity of the women-only space,” Shaw-Phillips said.
Shaw-Phillips said the three different sections are necessary because he wouldn’t feel comfortable being around all the men in the gender-neutral space because he spent the majority of his life living as a woman. He added that he wouldn’t feel comfortable marching in the women-only space either because he identifies as a male. Shaw-Phillips said dividing the march into different sections honors diversity by giving each group of people a space that recognizes their identity.
But some students don’t see the need for separate sections. College Republicans Chairman Jarrett White said he thinks having a women-only space in the march is unnecessary.
“I think that’s pretty stupid,” White said. “I don’t know if these women think they’re going to go through life without any contact with men.”
He added that he thinks it’s hypocritical to relegate men to a separate marching space because they go to the event to show their support for women.
“I don’t know why (women) would be uncomfortable (marching with men),” White said. “Especially since the men are there supporting their cause.”
Dury said that as far as she can remember, Take Back the Night has always reserved a space for women only, and if Thursday’s forum convinces the Women’s Center to organize a mingled march, it would be a first for the University.