Return of Kings rallies cancelled over safety concerns
Misogynistic group's planned events were denounced by several Canadian mayors
A controversial U.S. blogger who has published material suggesting rape inside a private home should be legal says he has cancelled rallies planned across the globe this weekend over safety concerns.
"I can no longer guarantee the safety or privacy of the men who want to attend on Feb. 6, especially since most of the meetups cannot be made private in time," Roosh V wrote on his blog on Wednesday.
"While I can't stop men who want to continue meeting in private groups, there will be no official Return Of Kings meet-ups."
He apologized to his supporters and a listing of locations has been removed from the website.
"I'm moving to save as many of these meet-ups as I can before Saturday so that men can still meet in private away from a loud, obnoxious, dishonest, and potentially violent mob," he added.
The blog, founded by Daryush (Roosh V) Valizadeh in 2012, describes itself as a blog for heterosexual, "masculine" men.
It preaches something called "neomasculinity," which supports traditional gender roles — including the beliefs that a woman's value "significantly depends on her fertility and beauty," and that the patriarchy is "a superior societal system that catered to the innate abilities of the sexes."
Rallies denounced across Canada
The rallies, which were planned in several Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Calgary and Toronto, were denounced by several mayors.
.<a href="https://twitter.com/ReturnOfKings">@ReturnofKings</a> Your pro-rape, misogynistic, homophobic garbage is not welcome in Ottawa <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/its2016?src=hash">#its2016</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TurnAwayReturnOfKings?src=hash">#TurnAwayReturnOfKings</a>
—@JimWatsonOttawaWhat he said. Goes double for Calgary. Thanks for your leadership on this, Jim. <a href="https://t.co/xyD7T1o1wA">https://t.co/xyD7T1o1wA</a>
—@nenshiNo place for intolerance, hatred & misogyny in Toronto. I'm with you <a href="https://twitter.com/nenshi">@nenshi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa">@jimwatsonottawa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TurnAwayReturnofKings?src=hash">#TurnAwayReturnofKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/ys8FWjN8js">https://t.co/ys8FWjN8js</a>
—@JohnToryHatred and misogyny have absolutely no place in Vancouver or anywhere else in this world <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TurnAwayReturnOfKings?src=hash">#TurnAwayReturnOfKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/Xlbia4YjfH">https://t.co/Xlbia4YjfH</a>
—@MayorGregorNot acceptable in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Edmonton?src=hash">#Edmonton</a>. Nor, I suspect, anywhere in this country in this day and age. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TurnAwayReturnOfKings?src=hash">#TurnAwayReturnOfKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/wnV6RcCkEe">https://t.co/wnV6RcCkEe</a>
—@donivesonThe hashtag #turnawayreturnofkings was trending in Canada on Tuesday, with some suggesting online that they wanted to show up at the planned rallies with protests.
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