"Commons" is derived from the old town square concept where ideas are shared, people from all walks of life gather, and different perspectives are welcomed.

The letter demanded that the event be canceled, that they provide diversity training for their staff, and issue a public apology to the "LGBT community".

[4] It expressed the "deep shock and disappointment" that the artists and organizations signing the letter felt over Arts Commons' choice to host the speaker, who in the past has been criticized for his online and public arguments against government mandated speech laws[5] and his opposition to Bill C-16.

In early September 2018, The New Gallery released a statement describing the circumstances of what it said was censorship of trans artist, Beck Gilmer-Osborne, exhibiting in a vitrine space within the Arts Commons building and Calgary +15 Network.

On August 29, 2018 Arts Commons sent The New Gallery a letter saying the video work would have to be edited to remove the nudity and coarse language or the artwork would be taken down.

[10] In response, on September 8, 2018, The New Gallery provided an open-letter written by the exhibiting artist, B.G-Osborne, in which Osborne stated that "rather than re-edit and censor my work to comfort certain viewers who are offended by the very banal acts of swearing and non-sexual nudity, I have decided to remove the piece from the space entirely."

The artwork was titled, 'Gaylord Phoenix in the Flower Temple' and depicted a cartoon of a gender-fluid man, touching his genitals (drawn as a noodle with paisley patterns).