Posie Parker’s anti-trans rally attended by Holocaust deniers and anti-abortion activists
Cabaret Against The Hate Speech sings to the the crowd in Glasgow’s George Square. (AFP via Getty Images/ANDY BUCHANAN)
A rally in Glasgow led by anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as Posie Parker, was attended by anti-abortion activists, Holocaust deniers and anti-immigration campaigners.
Parker’s Let Women Speak event came to George Square in the Scottish city on Sunday (5 February) and was attended by a number of gender-critical activists and members of other groups.
The rally was staged amid heightened debate around trans rights in Scotland, and the wider UK.
In recent months, the devolved nation has become the epicentre of debates around trans rights after Scottish parliament passed landmark reforms of its gender laws, which were subsequently blocked by Westminister, and the conviction of Isla Bryson who raped two women prior to identifying as a woman.
Posie Parker’s rally was met with a counter-protest that used music and dance to drown out the transphobic protest. This was organised by Scotland-based protest collective Cabaret Against The Hate Speech.
The two groups were separated by police barriers and discouraged from mixing.
The counter-protest included a reading of a Jewish prayer in response to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf being quoted at a Let Women Speak rally in Newcastle last month, a poetry reading and speech by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a performance by a trans country artist and disability activist and a group rendition of the Industrial Workers of the World solidarity song.
Sharing details of the day’s events in a thread on Twitter, an activist using the account name Euan Yours outlined the various figures who attended Parker’s demonstration.
The account firstly pointed out Alistair McConnachie’s pro-UK Scottish group A Force For Good was at the rally.
McConnachie was previously barred from UKIP for questioning the Holocaust.
The pro-union group shared several tweets throughout the day about Parker’s rally in which Nicola Sturgeon was referred to as the “destroyer of women’s rights”.
Among others, several members of the National Housing Party United Kingdom, which calls for a “complete halt to permanent settlement immigration”, were seen to have attended.
The NHP also campaigns for an exit from the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, the UN Human Rights Convention and the European Court of Human Rights.
Representatives from the Scottish Family Party were also photographed at the demonstration and held signs, which read “A man can’t become a woman. Simple” and showed blue and pink symbols representing people with ticks next to them.
The Scottish Family Party’s policies include opposing ‘transgender ideology’, abortion and assisted suicide, hate speech legislation and protecting children from “vulgar and corrupting sex education”.
Speaking with PinkNews at the counter-protest, attendees said Posie Parker’s rally did not represent Glasgow.
“We don’t want to see this imported hate that we’re seeing right now,” Beth Douglas, 29, a co-convener of the LGBTQ+ wing of the Scottish Greens, told PinkNews.
Douglas said Parker’s nationwide call for supporters prompted out-of-town travellers to come to Glasgow for Sunday’s rally. She compared this to Cabaret’s counter-protest, which she said was populated by masses of locals.
“These are local people from the local community,” she said. “And I’m very very proud of everyone who’s come along and sang so far, and danced. If I’m looking at both protests, I know which one has the better vibes.”
Others echoed Douglas’ pride in local values.
“I love this city so much,” Mousey, 31, a protester who lives in Glasgow, told PinkNews. “It’s disgusting to see this kind of rot creep in.”
“There’s such trans joy in the city,” Hann, 23, who also attended Glasgow’s protest against the gender reform block in January, added.
“There’s a major community here … to see them come in and try to sully that … they can’t. No matter if there’s one trans person here, we will always win.”
PinkNews has contacted Posie Parker for comment.
