HUNDREDS of anti-rape demonstrators have taken to the streets in Glasgow and Edinburgh after forcing militant misogynist Roosh V to cancel meetings in Scotland.
A petition opposing 'pro-rape' activist Daryush Valizadeh, known as Roosh V, being allowed to promote his view "hate speech" in Scotland has gathered 60,000 signatures.
Although Roosh V, cancelled plans for his self-described neo-masculinist movement to meet up in 43 countries, including Scotland, at the weekend, organisers of protests planned for Saturday night said they would still go ahead, claiming this was now “bigger than Roosh”.
And they came out in force in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Roosh V's “tribal gathering” or “men’s happy hour” was supposed to be a chance for the like-minded men who use the Return of Kings website to “come out from the shadows” in a bid to form some sort “neo-masculine” movement.
But in cancelling the events, Roosh V said saying he could no longer “guarantee the safety or privacy” of the men who want to attend.
Cat Boyd of the left wing alliance RISE who set up the petition on the 38 degrees site was one of the speakers at a protest in George Square.
Some wrote protest slogans in different coloured chalk on the ground including "No Means No" and "Roosh Ya Douche".
The TYCI women's collective of artists, musicians, bloggers, writers and producers said: "Great to be part of the quality rally at George Square tonight. Thanks to all the inspiring women and men involved."
Facebook groups set up to arrange counter demonstrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh suggested thousands of people were willing to protest against Roosh V on Saturday night.
Groups from Edinburgh University Feminist Society to the Scottish Defence League had called on people to gather on Saturday to oppose anyone in attendance of Roosh V’s events.
Roosh V is adamant that he doesn't endorse rape, and argues a post advocating that rape should be legal is satire.
This is an amazing thing happening right now #glasgow4equality #glasgowkiss pic.twitter.com/Q07kVhjeOb
— Jon Brady (@jonbradyphoto) February 6, 2016
Marching on Sauchiehall Street now #glasgow4equality #glasgowkiss pic.twitter.com/0ARAjVKcEn
— Jon Brady (@jonbradyphoto) February 6, 2016
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here