Anti-trans bus pulled off the road to stop it from inciting hatred
An anti-trans bus campaign has been pulled off the streets by Spanish authorities, who said it could incite hatred.
The side of the orange-and-white bus is emblazoned with the message: “Boys have penises, girls have vulvas. Do not be fooled.”
Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena said on Wednesday that police stopped the bus returning to the Spanish capital’s streets in order to prevent a hate crime, according to the Associated Press.
The adverts were launched by Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard), a Catholic organisation which also has a history of anti-abortion protests, against campaigns to allow children to legally change their gender.
Campaigns to raise awareness of issues faced by trans children in Spain have seen one group spread the message: “There are girls with penises and boys with vulvas. It’s as simple as that.”
Plans had been drawn up for the bus to visit seven other Spanish cities before this development.
Ignacio Arsuaga, president of Hazte Oir, wrote on Twitter that impounding the bus was “illegal,” adding that this was the result of a “totalitarian LGTB [sic]” approach which was “agreed with a totalitarian party by a totalitarian president.”
The Equality spokeswoman for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, Angeles Alvarez, branded the bus tour “a hate campaign based on intolerance”, reported Spain’s El Pais newspaper.
The Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, warned she would not tolerate the bus entering her city, writing on Twitter: “In Barcelona there is no place for LGBT-phobic buses. We want our children to grow in freedom and without hatred.”
