Australian students vow to protest anti-trans activist Posie Parker’s rallies ‘again and again’
Protests are taking place around the Australia against British anti-trans activist Posie Parker, who is currently on tour across the country.
A number of protests have already taken place, including in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth during Parkerās (real name Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull) public appearances, where she has addressed small groups of supporters.
More protests are planned, beginning in Adelaide on Thursday (16 March).
Australiaās National Union of Students LGBTQ+ officer, Damien Nguyen, told PinkNews that the union, alongside LGBTQ+ rights groups across Australia, had worked together to organise the protests.
Nguyen led the cheers at the Saturday (11 March) protest, in Sydney, and took confidence in the fact more people attended the protest than showed up to support Parker’s appearance, he said.
Local media has reported she has been outnumbered at other Australian appearances by LGBTQ+ groups, as well.
Nguyen says he’s ānever seen more young people showing up [to support a cause]ā, adding it felt ācrazyā to have people āso willing to sort of take part in this movementā.
He believes it is reflective of the wider Australian view, but is still āconcernedā by the number of people supporting anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ movements.
He says it’s āreally scaryā seeing what’s happening in the United States around trans rights, and how that was then influencing people in other countries.
āWe will be rallying againā¦ because itās important to us, and weāll be out there again and again.ā
About 150 protesters gathered at Western Australiaās Parliament House, in Perth, on Tuesday (14 March) in an attempt to drown out Parkerās appearance to a smaller crowd outside the building, as reported by The West Australian.
The outlet reported that Parker’s tour is at least partly sponsored by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Network, which also operates in Australia.
A chant heard at several protests is: āPosie Parker you canāt hide, youāve got Nazis on your side.ā
Parker told the Perth protesters to āget a jobā and āstop the genocideā.
In an interview with radio station 2GB ahead of her Sydney appearance, Parker described herself as āprobablyā¦ transphobicā and said she did ānothing to invite controversyā.
She went on to claim people are not able to āspeak the truthā and added she thought the āweird social currency of acceptanceā¦ is really not caring at all about womenā.
Calls to block Posie Parker from New Zealand
LGBTQ+ rights activists in New Zealand are calling for the countryās immigration department to ban Posie Parker from being able to enter the country.
She is due to visit Auckland on 25 March and then Wellington, the capital, the following day, as part of her tour.
An open letter to Immigration Minister Michael Wood, has been published by Rainbow Greens, and co-signed by three Green Party MPs.
It states: āThere is reason to believe [Parkerās] arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand poses a significant risk and threat to public order and the public interest ā particularly with respect to preventing violence towards members of our takatÄpui [an indigenous MÄori LGBTQ+ term], transgender and gender diverse communitiesā.
PinkNews has contacted Posie Parker for comment on the Australia protests.
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