Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist (talk | contribs) at 04:49, 19 October 2022 (Created article). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (AKA Posie Parker) is an anti-trans activist, founder of the group Standing for Women, and a special advisor to Women's Liberation Front.

History and activism

In February, Keen was interviewed by the police for allegedly harassing Susie Green, CEO of transgender charity Mermaids. Keen had tweeted that Green had "castrated" her transgender daughter and shared details about her medical history, which included seeking treatment outside the UK. The case was eventually closed with no further action.

In May, Keen and other audience members at a debate titled Genderquake hosted by channel 4 news heckled Caitlyn Jenner and Munroe Bergdorf, two trans woman invited to speak. Keen later claimed that Cathy Newman, hosting the show, had encouraged the behavior.

In September 2018, Keen paid Primesight to place a billboard poster under the pseudonym "Posie Parker" in Liverpool with the text "woman, wʊmən, noun, adult human female" in response to proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition act 2004 and Joe Anderson voicing support for the trans community and. Dr Adrian Harrop, who filed the complaint leading to the poster's removal, said it was a "symbol that makes transgender people feel unsafe." Primesight removed the poster, stating it had been "misled" and was "fully committed to equality for all". In response to the poster, LGBT charity Stonewall stated "Our 2018 Trans Report revealed that one in eight trans employees (12%) have been physically attacked at work, while two in five trans people (41%) have experienced a hate crime or incident in the last year. These are not just statistics, they represent the lives of trans people, which are only being made worse by increasingly frequent attacks in the media, online and in public spaces".

On September 30th, someone created a fake social media account impersonating her husband and sharing her personal information, including her name and address.

A billboard with the same slogan as the original was erected in Leeds on October 19th. Kong Outdoor, which owns the billboard, removed it pending investigation.

On January 28, 2019, Keen attended an event hosted by the Foundation opposed to the Equality Act and posted a video from inside the conference praising their coverage of the issue.

On January 30, Sarah McBride, press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and a transgender woman, addressed Capitol Hill for a private meeting to advocate for the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to existing civil rights law. Keen and Julia Long entered and began to harass McBride on live stream, misgendering her and accusing her of hating lesbians. The HRC condemned the incident and blamed the Heritage Foundation, stating "It is disturbing but not at all surprising that anti-transgender extremists brought to the United States at the behest of the Heritage Foundation would stoop to harassing a transgender woman and parents of transgender youth." A spokesperson for the Heritage Foundation stated they had "no contact with before or after our Jan. 28 event, and have zero connection to anything they did afterward."

On January 31, Keen claimed in an interview with the Spectator that the U.S exported the concept of transgender rights to the U.K. and "to stem the flow of female erasure we have to come to its source."

In February, Keen traveled to Norway and posed for a photo with Hans Jørgen Lysglimt Johansen, a far-right Hungarian politician. Keen also repeatedly expressed support for far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

In May, a sticker designed by Standing for Women to look like an official sign was removed from a Dundee train station following complaints. The sticker read "Women only. This is a single sex service under the Equality Act 2010" and was placed over the original sign. Keen denied that the group placed the sticker.

In October, she appeared in an interview with Jean-François Gariépy, a far-right youtuber who calls for a "white ethno-state" and has made videos with neo-Nazis Richard B. Spencer and Mark Collett as well as formed Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Keen later stated she did not realise he was a white nationalist. She also gave an interview to Soldiers of Christ Online, later stating she wasn't aware it was linked to the far-right.

In January 2020, Keen spoke at a panel organized by Women's Liberation Front (WoLF). Julie Bindel, another "gender-critical feminist", tweeted "Posie Parker is a thick feck who is a bigot and not a feminist. She has taken the Heritage Foundation coin. None of the actual feminists I work with can bear her." and "I despise the latest tactics of Posie Parker and disciples, and want no part in it. As far as I am concerned, they are motivated by narcissism, bigotry, and ego. They are causing harm." Keen stated she supports LGB rights, is pro-choice, and denied that she was funded "by the right".

On July 27 2020, Keen paid for a poster reading "I ❤ JK Rowling" to be displayed at Waverly Station in Edinburgh for Rowling's 55th birthday. The poster was taken down by the Scotland wing of Network Rail July 30th, who stated the poster was removed for violating its advertising guidelines due to it's political nature.

In December 2020, Keen became a special advisor to WoLF.

In January 2021, Keen was criticized for calling for armed men to enter women's public bathrooms to "protect" women.

On March 15 2022, Keen attended an event hosted by the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network titled "How 'Gender Equality' Cheats Women and Girls." The event was held to coincide with a United Nation's women's event. The event was protested by Equality New York, the Reclaim Pride Coalition, Rise and Resist, United Against Racism and Fascism, Fight Back Bay Ridge, and Gays Against Guns, who held signs saying "TERFs go home" and "Lesbians for trans women" among others.

In April, she attended the NCAA Division I women's swimming championship in Atlanta to protest Lia Thomas's inclusion in the event.

May 15th, Keen organized a "gender-critical" rally. A cis woman entered, posed as a speaker, and took the microphone to say "I just wanna say that I am a cis female and I recognise trans women in women’s spaces as alright, and I don’t think we need to protest that, I don’t think we need the vitriolic hate. Trans women are women!" Allie Crew, the artist who created the art the speakers stood in front of, stated "TERFs used my work in St Peter’s Square Manchester to hold a large anti-trans demonstration" and "I am greatly saddened that my work was re-appropriated like this and I do not share their views. I promote all human rights." Keen stated the protest was held there since they couldn't access the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst due to a counter-protest by trans rights activists.

In June 2022, Keen appeared in Matt Walsh's documentary What is a Woman?.

On September 18, Keen hosted a rally in Brighton with Maya Forstater and Helen Joyce in attendance. Joyce was seen holding the Progress Pride Flag with the chevron for the POC, trans, and intersex communities cut off. Reclaim Pride called it a "transphobic hate tour". Reclaim Pride, LGBWithTheT, which was set up to counter the LGB Alliance, and allies counter-protested the event. Police kept the protestors and counter-protestors separate. Keen was heard saying "Say this after me: Trans women are men. Trans men are women. There’s no such thing as non-binary and transitioning children is abuse." A police spokesperson said one 19 year old woman was arrest on suspicion of assault and a 20 year man was arrested for obstructing a police officer, both were released pending further inquiries. A 50 year old man was charged with assault and two counts of possession of a bladed article, he was released on bail.

On September 22, In response to Eddie Izzard's announcement of her plan to run for MP for Sheffield, Keen announced her own plan to run, saying she would "campaign on the basis of repealing the Gender Recognition Act (GRA)" and "erase the word ‘gender'". During her announcement, she promoted her own merchandise, called the hijab "atrocious" and a "tool of oppression", said she wouldn't boycott PayPal over them removing service for anti-LGBT group the Free Speech Union, and called Tucker Carlson "an intelligent, really lovely, welcoming, warmly welcoming man".

References

1. ^ Fitzsimons, Tim (February 1, 2019). "Prominent transgender advocate harassed by anti-trans feminists, video shows". NBC News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
2. ^ Peltz, Madeline (February 26, 2019). "Right-wing media and think tanks are aligning with fake feminists who dehumanize trans people". Media Matters For America. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
3. ^ Braidwood, Ella (2019-01-31). "Trans campaigner Sarah McBride is harassed by anti-trans feminists in video". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
4. ^ Burns, Katelyn (2019-09-05). "The rise of anti-trans "radical" feminists, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
5. ^ Norris, Sian (2021-03-08). "IWD 2021: Radical Feminists and Radical Right Form Unlikely Alliance on International Women's Day". Byline Times. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
6. White, Adam (July 31, 2020). "An 'I love JK Rowling poster' was removed from an Edinburgh train station due to its 'political nature'". Insider. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
7. ^ Glass, Jess (2018-05-10). "Exclusive: Genderquake audience were allegedly 'encouraged to heckle' trans panellists". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
8. Mowat, Laura (March 21, 2019). "Campaigner accused of transphobia says criminal probes into 'misgendering people' waste police time". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
9. "Woman billboard removed after transphobia row". BBC News. 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
10. Braidwood, Ella (2018-10-01). "Trans campaigners condemn personal info leak of woman behind anti-trans billboard". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
11. Hyde, Nathan (2018-10-21). "Woman poster removed from Leeds billboard and investigated". Leeds Live. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
12. Smith, Reiss (2019-05-03). "Anti-trans bathroom sign removed from Dundee train station". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
13. Parsons, Vic (2019-10-15). "Gender-critical feminist Posie Parker in video with white nationalist YouTuber – and a lot of Mumsnet users are fine with it". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
14. Norris, Sian (2021-09-30). "The Far-Right Co-Option of the Transgender Rights Issue". Byline Times. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
15. Parsons, Vic (2020-01-19). "The "gender-critical feminist" movement appears to be falling apart at the seams. Here's why". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
16. Milton, Josh (2020-07-29). "'Gender critical feminist' Posie Parker pays for billboard declaring love for JK Rowling at Edinburgh railway station". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
17. Milton, Josh (2020-07-30). "Posie Parker's 'I Love JK Rowling' billboard has already been removed". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
18. Milton, Josh (2021-01-30). "'Gender critical feminist' Posie Parker wants men with guns to start using women's toilets". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
19. Tracy, Matt (2022-03-18). "Activists Confront Transphobes in Manhattan". Gay City News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
20. ^ Richardson, Valerie (April 10, 2022). "Pressure to define 'woman' puts Democrats in a political quandary". Washington Times. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
21. Webb, Karleigh (2022-06-17). "Trans women must wait 2 years to be eligible, says cycling governing body". Outsports. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
22. Chudy, Emily (2022-05-17). "Cis woman interrupts feeble anti-trans protest and instantly becomes an icon". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
23. Wentworth, India (2022-09-19). "PICTURES: Arrests made at Kellie-Jay Keen rally in Brighton". Sussex Express. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
24. Billson, Chantelle (2022-09-19). "Hundreds gather to 'drown out' rally by anti-trans activist Posie Parker". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
25. Wakefield, Lily (2022-09-23). "Anti-trans activist Posie Parker wants to stand as an MP against Eddie Izzard". Pink News. Retrieved 2022-10-19.

• Transphobia in the United Kingdom