Twenty years ago today, a young man walked into a classroom at the L’Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, took out a gun, ordered all of the men to leave, and shot fourteen young women because they were “feminists”. The man’s name, of course, was Marc Lepine.
And while his act took place in Montreal, killed Canadians, and while it had a tremendous impact on Canadian policy, and while the murders of these fourteen women are being commemorated by Canadians across this country, it would be a mistake to call this just a Canadian event. Even on my twitter feed, I’ve encountered memorials to this event from people who aren’t Canadians. — from an American currently on a work visa in the United Kingdom; from an Australian; the list goes on. Throughout the world, men and women are remembering this event, expressing horror at what the hatred of one man can lead to, especially hatred against our sisters and mothers and daughters whose only crime is to want as good of a life for themselves as their brothers and fathers and sons enjoy.
It has been noted that while Marc Lepine’s name is now unfortunately almost a household word, the names of the women he killed have almost faded into obscurity. To commemorate this tragedy, it has been suggested that the names of those women be posted, so that they may live too. I shall do that here:
- Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student
- Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
- Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
- Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
- Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968), chemical engineering student
- Maud Haviernick (born 1960), materials engineering student
- Maryse Laganière (born 1964), École Polytechnique budget clerk
- Maryse Leclair (born 1966), materials engineering student
- Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
- Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), mechanical engineering student
- Michèle Richard (born 1968), materials engineering student
- Annie St-Arneault (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
- Annie Turcotte (born 1969), materials engineering student
- Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958), nursing student
And, from here, I have nothing more to say, because the rest of it has been said by John Baglow — you may know him better as Dr. Dawg. Read his post all the way through. He says everything that needs to be said about the vileness of the act, and the vileness of those who would downplay this event, and deny that we still have far to go to ensure that the rights of my daughters are as protected as my own rights.