An Open Letter To Vickery Bowles

To Vickery Bowles, the chief Librarian at Toronto Public Library

My name is Hasan Namir. I moved to Canada in 1998 and during the first week that I arrived here, my parents took me to the Coquitlam Public Library because I loved books and I wanted to read so badly, so I could learn English. After attending, I was astonished at how amazing everything was, and how different it was back in Iraq. We had bookstores, but not libraries where people could borrow books. I got my first library card and I felt like Matilda when she first discovered the library and when the librarian told her she could take books home to read. I did that every day and I got so excited after reading each book and so I would get another one, and another and so forth.

To me, the library became my second home and I felt like I belonged. Over the years, I would go to the library to study for exams. When I was attending Simon Fraser University, I would spend more time in the library than anywhere else.

The library isn’t just about books, it is a sanctuary, a safe space where people can feel that they belong. I have always loved the libraries and I always will regardless. It has become part of me before I even learned how to say, “How are you?” Through reading books, I learned English and I am forever grateful.

I am all for freedom of space and I believe that libraries are all about inclusiveness. I have not once felt otherwise in a library. I have always felt included. The reason why I’m writing this letter is because it breaks my heart and it saddens me that you are giving Meghan Murphy a platform to speak against transgender rights. Murphy makes the argument that transgender women should not be allowed in women’s spaces because trans women would undermine women’s rights. I’m still struggling to understand this and I ask how does trans women undermine women’s rights? What Murphy is doing is excluding a whole community and that is unacceptable. 

At a time, when every day, you read in the news of  trans women being murdered because of their identity, one would realize how dangerous Murphy’s discourse really is. She is promoting for the exclusion of trans women. So, how does the library become a safe space then and the inclusion of all people when you are allowing Murphy to speak? 

Thousands of people have signed a petition and even mayor John Tory expressed his disappointment and yet you are still not reconsidering. 

As I’m going to be a father in a few weeks, I realize how important it is to visit the public library with my child, as I want them to read and have the same experience as I did. What am I going to tell my child.. that the Toronto Public Library and other public libraries allow someone whose sole purpose is to deny the existence of trans women within women’s spaces where they would feel safe? I want my child to feel belonged and right now, my trans sisters are hurting and you don’t realize the negative impact your decision is causing. The next time you read in the news about violence against trans women , I hope you realize the repercussions of your actions. You can say that by allowing Murphy to have a platform that this is freedom of speech, but it is not, it is discrimination against trans women.