The poem, written by Sarah Tsiang of Kingston, about unwanted sexual advances was recited by a Grade 12 student in Calgary.
A professor at Queen's University is outraged over the reciting of a poem that a high school student in Calgary is being disciplined for at a poetry reading competition.
The poem written by Sarah Tsiang is about women receiving unwanted sexual advances from men.
Josephine Trigg, a grade 12 student who attends a catholic school in Calgary, recited Tsiang's poem for Poetry in Voice.
According to the CBC, the poem was approved by her English teacher for the competition. But after Trigg recited the poem in-person, her vice-principal felt it wouldn't be suitable for the competition.
The issue being raised about the poem was that it contains words depicting male genitalia. Tsiang says the poem is a blunt assessment about what women have to face when men try to make sexual advances towards them.
She believes removing the student and poem from the competition is a form of censorship and that the current government in Alberta has something to do with it.
Tsiang says she has tried to reached out to the Calgary Catholic District School Board.
The issue of free speech has long been a contentious issue in Canada, the US and around the world.
Tsiang says while certain speech that is deemed offensive must be prohibited, that doesn't mean works like hers have to be painted with the same brush.
Trigg told the CBC that she has submitted an alternate poem for the regional round of the competition. She says she hopes there will be enough public pressure to get organizers to let her recite Tsiang's original poem.
Story by Ken Hashizume
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