Trans flag flown over Victoria government building after Nazi salute at Posie Parker rally
Victoria government raises trans flag following Nazi protest in Australian state. (Dan Andrews/Twitter)
The Australian state of Victoria has raised a trans flag outside government offices in support of the community after an anti-trans event attracted extremists performing Nazi salutes.
Anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, held her ‘Let Women Speak’ event on Saturday (18 March) in Melbourne, Victoria, which was attended by around 400 demonstrators and around 30 Neo-Nazis – who she has denied were there for her rally.
The Nazi group proceeded to shout slurs at LGBTQ+ protesters, chant “white power” and perform Nazi salutes on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House.
The state’s premier, Dan Andrews, quickly denounced the Nazi gathering, claiming: :”I wish it didn’t have to be said, but it clearly does: Nazis aren’t welcome. Not on Parliament’s steps. Not anywhere.”
On Tuesday (21 March), he shared a video of the trans flag being lifted outside the Victoria government offices.
“There’s a new flag flying outside the offices of the Victorian government,” he wrote. “Because we’ll always respect you. And we’ll always have your back.”
Following the events in Melbourne, politicians in Victoria have discussed banning the Nazi salute, and branded the far-right protest group “disgusting” and “cowardly”.
“The behaviour we saw on the weekend was disgusting, cowardly – a sense of sadness, outrage and disbelief all at once,” attorney general Jaclyn Symes told ABC Radio.
“It’s clear this symbol is being used to incite hatred against a variety of people, a variety of minority groups … it’s being used as a recruitment tool.”
The proposed ban will follow Victoria becoming the first Australian state to outlaw the public display of the Nazi swastika.
Australian students have vowed to protest Posie Parker’s anti-trans events “again and again” as she has travelled across the country on her ‘Let Women Speak’ tour, and now plans to appear in New Zealand.
The Australian National Union of Students’ LGBTQ+ officer, Damien Nguyen, told PinkNews that he has “never seen more young people showing up [to support a cause]” as the union and other LGBTQ+ groups had come out to protest Parker.
“We will be rallying again … because it’s important to us, and we’ll be out there again and again,” he said.
Parker told PinkNews in a statement: “No men dressed in black block who gave Nazi salutes were at the Let Women Speak rally.”
“Standing For Women campaigns for rights of women and the safeguarding of children. Nazis are abhorrent, no right-minded person sides with Nazis, they have absolutely nothing to do with Let Women Speak.”
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