YPY protests board’s decision

sol kauffman

Members of Youth Protecting Youth hold posters suggesting that they have been censored by the UVSS board.

As this year’s UVic Students’ Society (UVSS) chairperson candidates debated the issues of the day in the Student Union Building’s (SUB) Michelle Pujol room on March 2, another debate could been seen taking place through the windows.

Members of pro-life group Youth Protecting Youth (YPY) stood outside the SUB dressed in printed shirts. Red scarves with the word “life” were tied around members’ mouths. The group held posters with sayings like “some choices are wrong” marred by a large red “censored.”

Other participants held some of the posters which have led to harrasment complaints against YPY. Handbills passed out by members said that the UVSS is sending “a clear message that UVic is no place for students who hold differing beliefs.”

On Feb. 8, the UVic Students’ Society (UVSS) decided to withhold YPY’s funding for one year and deny them status until a new “Conditions of Club Status” policy can be developed. Arguments for this decision centred mainly around complaints against YPY for their tactics, including their postering campaigns.

Soon after YPY began their protest, members of Students for Choice and the Women’s Centre came to showcase their pro-choice views with banners and signs.