Well that didn’t take long. Yesterday we brought you the story of Professor David Gilmour who refuses to teach books by women or Chinese authors. Students are already protesting him.

Chris Kitching of CTV News reports.

U of T students protest against David Gilmour’s comments

University of Toronto students gathered Friday for a protest against a literary instructor and author over controversial comments he made to a journalist.

Some students are calling for David Gilmour’s dismissal after he told the interviewer he is not interested in teaching books written by women and he prefers to teach novels by “serious heterosexual guys.”

Gilmour also told the journalist he doesn’t “truly love” books by Chinese writers or women.

In response to the remarks, students are staging a demonstration at U of T’s downtown campus.

A Facebook event listing invited people to gather in front of the Northrop Frye statue, and nearly 400 people have indicated that they plan to attend.

“David Gilmour has generously reminded us of the importance of studying Serious Literature by Serious Heterosexual Guys,” the event listing states. “Let’s show our support for the omission of unserious people like women, queer folks, and writers of colour (especially Chinese writers) from university syllabi by rallying around the statue to Serious Heterosexual Literary Scholar Northrop Frye.”

Several authors have weighed in on the controversy.

After speaking at a Social Media Week event Friday, Canadian author Margaret Atwood said she is unable to give her opinion on Gilmour’s remarks because he is longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and she is a member of the three-person jury.

“Universities are places where many things are taught and where free expression of opinion is encouraged,” Atwood told CP24 reporter George Lagogianes.