Jon Ronson's insulting Michfest revisionism

A tragedy for lesbians is spun as a victory for civil debate

Dana Rivers and Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson complains about me in the current Big Issue, insinuating that the real reason I keep coming after him is that he bravely called me out as a bully. In fact, the reason I mention him so much is that he was a friend for over twenty years and he stood by while women were cancelled, while I was cancelled, and only spoke up to join in the cancelling. Now he pretends he believes in gender ideology so as not to disturb his carefully-tended American audience. When I asked him if these guys, currently grossing out lesbians on the app Her, were men, he simply refused to answer.

one of the ‘lesbians’ who deserved to be at Michfest, according to Jon

His documentary about Michfest is, of course, a disgrace: the denigration of second-wave feminists is so facile that it actually includes a reference to them “not shaving their legs”; his barely-disguised cheerleading of third-wave feminism—what a coincidence, the porn-positive feminism that most benefits Jon—is grimly revealing. Jon’s compassion is infinite… if you’re male. If you’re female, your rights are subject to the whims of fashion.

And of course, there is the unmistakable attempt, one with which feminists are wearily familiar, to place trans-identified males inside the same moral framework as black people experiencing racism. This relentless propaganda, combined with the ambient soundtrack which swells every time words like ‘intersectional’ come up, have the effect of making it feel like a cult initiation recording.

Most insultingly, he portrays AGPs bullying a lesbian festival out of existence as if it was the Camp David accords. It’s a grotesque piece of revisionism. In one section, the principles behind the protest are breathlessly described.. “…headway was made at Camp trans, not least because of the guidelines that Nancy and her friends drew up. “Most festival goers are thoughtful and open minded. Listen carefully and remain calm and patient. Do not call anyone names or belittle their point of view or imply that they are irrational. An atmosphere with love and joy will attract people to us, anger and hostility or turn them away.””

Isn’t that lovely? But the worst aspect of the program is not what it contains but what it does not. Ronson fails to even mention that Michfest ended—properly ended—when two lesbians and their adopted son were murdered by one of the Camp Trans protestors.

Doesn’t that seem like it might be somewhat pertinent?

“Dana Rivers aka David Chester Warfield was a California teacher who “transitioned” on the job and was let go due to allegations of locking his students into a classroom and forcing them to listen to him explain his personal life. He received national news coverage after challenging his employer for discrimination. The case was settled. Rivers was quite taken with the idea of fame and had many highfalutin plans to parlay himself into a media career, none of which came to fruition.

Rivers was an organizer and participant in “Camp Trans”, the largest organized protest in transgender history. Camp trans was a campaign against the rights of lesbians to hold an annual women-only music festival called “Michfest” on private land. Dana Rivers and other Camp Trans protesters occupied the space outside the rural lesbian-owned property and traveled cross-country to harass lesbians whom, they believed, discriminated against men by excluding males from a private lesbian event on private land. Dana Rivers and fellow members of the Camp Trans encampment dedicated themselves to preventing lesbians from holding private women-only events on private property.

Major activist organizations HRC (Human Rights Campaign), NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights) and the National LGBTQ Task Force, among others, supported the campaign against private lesbian music festivals, declaring them offensive to men, who were excluded. In 2016 these organizations all supported a total boycott, sponsored by Equality Michigan, against any female artist that had ever, or may in future, perform at any woman-only or lesbian event. In a shocking twist, the Indigo Girls, who had headlined the event several times turned on their fan base and supported the blacklist against lesbian performers. This resulted in the end of their own careers.

After 40 years Michfest buckled under the pressure of the boycott and ceased to exist in 2016.

A few months later, in November 2016, David Warfield/Dana Rivers went on to brutally batter, then stab, shoot, and burn two women who were long time Michfest attendees and their adopted son. David/Dana was charged with stabbing, shooting, and beating Patricia Wright and Charlotte Reed and their son Benny, and then burning them. He has been housed in the Santa Rita Jail- allegedly in the women’s sector- ever since.

Kara Dansky is the only person I know following the case. From her website:

Just after midnight on November 11, 2016, police received reports about gunshots being fired at a home on Dunbar Drive, in Oakland, California. When they responded, they found Rivers drenched in blood and running from the doorway of the house. He was in possession of knives, ammunition, and metal knuckles. The house was on fire. Inside the house, the police found two women whose bodies were riddled with bullets and stab wounds. They also found a young man laid out in front of the house who had been shot to death. Rivers has been charged with numerous serious and violent offenses, including murder and arson.

The victims: Patricia Wright and Charlotte Reed, a married lesbian couple, and Toto Diambu (known as Benny Diambu-Wright), their 19-year-old son.

Previously, Rivers had been active in “Camp Trans,” a campaign against the rights of lesbians to hold the women-only annual festival called “Michfest” on private land (the last official Michfest occurred in 2015). Patricia and Charlotte were regular attendees at Michfest.

Jon’s documentary is an insult to the victims who lost their lives, and the lesbians who had a precious women-only event stolen from them. Jon, I do try not to mention you, but your dishonesty and contempt for women’s boundaries makes it impossible. I also wonder—if you left out something so central to this story, where have you cut corners or lied by omission in the past? Or is it only when covering women’s rights that you suppress your instincts as a journalist?