Anti-trans hate reaches ‘genocidal’ levels in New Zealand after Posie Parker visit, report says

Anti-trans pundit Posie Parker’s visit to Australia and New Zealand allegedly caused transphobic harassment to skyrocket, analysts say.

Research collected by independent NZ body The Disinformation Project found that transphobic rhetoric reached “genocidal” levels following the tour by British anti-trans activist Posie Parker, whose real name is Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull.

The anti-trans campaigner faced immense backlash throughout her ‘Let Women Speak’ tour of Australia and New Zealand in March, as counter-protesters condemned her exclusionary views.

In Melbourne, Keen-Minshull and ‘gender-critical’ activists were joined by neo-Nazis, leading to condemnation from Victoria premier Dan Andrews.

Less than a week later, counter-protests at a chaotic rally in Auckland prompted Keen-Minshull to cancel the rest of her planned tour of New Zealand.

Following the chaotic event, Disinformation Project researcher Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa told RNZ that the subsequent spike in online hatred directed at trans people was unlike anything he had ever seen.

“They are being hounded, harassed, harmed and hated upon online – to a degree we’ve never studied before,” he said.

“Something that we’ve never seen before is the import of content from Australian neo-Nazi, neo-fascist, antisemitic networks and their personal networks, into New Zealand.”

In the weeks following the ‘Let Women Speak’ tour, researchers found that the anti-trans content being shared had become “extraordinarily violent”.

Hattotuwa added that there is an “extremely strong correlation” between hate speech and real-life violence against marginalised groups like the trans community.

Several politicians in Australia and New Zealand spoke of their anger at Keen-Minshull and her supporters following her tour.

Australian senator Nick McKim told Keen-Minshull – who he described as a “trans-exclusionary right-wing dropkick” – to “get in the bin.“

“I say to Posie Parker, or whatever pseudonym Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull wants to go by, that what she did [in Melbourne] was vile, disgraceful, untrue and disgusting,” he said.

“It gives us a window into her dark and warped soul.”

Another Australian senator, Lidia Thorpe, who joined protestors in Canberra, was physically restrained while attempting to confront Keen-Minshull about her rhetoric.

A disturbing clip shows a police officer appear to throw Thorpe to the ground as she approaches Keen-Minshull.

Following the incident, Thorpe said: “I went to tell her that they are not welcome here. The government needs to answer why these people are allowed into this country.”

Keen-Minshull’s campaign will continue on 9 April in Hyde Park, London. She will be travelling across the UK, from Belfast to Birmingham, until the campaign’s final stop in June.