人兽性交

Last spring, I wrote an article for the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 (人兽性交) Intelligence Report that ran online under the headline, .鈥� One year later, following an unremitting series of attacks on what I wrote by defensive men鈥檚 right activists (MRAs), another suicide has shed new light on men鈥檚 rights activism.

Back in 1991, Earl Silverman started a self-help group for abused men in Calgary, Canada. Silverman鈥檚 abusive wife had fled to a women鈥檚 shelter after he鈥檇 鈥�,鈥� he said, but no equivalent refuge had been available to him. Over the years, he filed numerous complaints against the provincial government, in which he argued that its failure to provide the same funding for battered men that it did for battered women was a violation of basic human rights. Three years ago, he opened a shelter for battered men in his home. In April, 2013, beset with financial difficulties, Silverman closed its doors, sold his house, and hung himself, 鈥渕urdered by suicide by the Feminized state of Canada,鈥� as the National Coalition for Men鈥檚 Harry Crouch .

In summarizing Silverman鈥檚 story, the online 鈥檚 Alexander Abad-Santos quoted from both the Intelligence Report and Salon鈥檚 Mary Elizabeth Williams, who wrote, 鈥淭here are male victims. 鈥� Yet where Silverman came up short was in perpetuating the Men鈥檚 Rights Movement鈥檚 fiction that there鈥檚 any gender equity as far as violence and victims.鈥�

The MRA website A Voice for Men with its signature restraint, accusing Abad-Santos of 鈥済loating鈥� over Silverman鈥檚 corpse. It brought the 人兽性交 into the story, too, falsely accusing it (and me) of backpedaling after a tsunami of outrage met what was described as our 鈥渋rresponsible fear-mongering about the MRM.鈥� 聽聽Anyone who denies that men are as victimized by women as women are by men is a shill for feminism, with its 鈥渃ore foundations of violence and hatred,鈥� it added.

Another MRA , 鈥淚 cheerfully await the feminists who will be dancing on [Silverman鈥檚] grave.鈥�

The odd thing is that links in Silverman鈥檚 own offer a more nuanced view of his story than his mourners do. Voluminous briefs and transcripts document how accommodating various officials were 鈥� assigning him a liaison, inviting him to conferences, scheduling interviews with ministers, granting him wide latitude when he failed to dot every bureaucratic 鈥渋鈥� and cross every 鈥渢.鈥� He also benefited from the聽 $1,000 benefit that is available to people of either gender who are fleeing domestic violence in Alberta. The same Harry Crouch who accused 鈥淔eminized鈥� Canada of murder in 2011 when 鈥淓arl Silverman鈥檚 DV [domestic violence] shelter 鈥� announced that it took in and housed its first male victim that had been both referred and funded by a $1,000 grant from the local provincial government. This is a huge deal.鈥�

Some of those who knew Silverman saw things quite differently.

鈥淢r. Silverman appears incapable of coherent and rational problem solving with government or community partners,鈥� Maria David-Evans, the exasperated deputy minister of Alberta Children鈥檚 Services wrote in a formal response to one of his suits. 鈥淭his is clearly not because of discrimination or gender bias 鈥� but is based on the illogical, unjustifiable and unreasonable ideology needed to communicate his views about misandry conspiracies that he has come to believe.鈥�

Like the men鈥檚 rights movement at large, Earl Silverman was not always his own best advocate. It鈥檚 difficult to avoid the conclusion that his supporters are looking to get more out of his death than any feminists are.