Posie Parker attacks Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black over surrogacy after Olympic diving final

Gender-critical activist Posie Parker has hit out at Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black for having children via surrogacy, labelling it “baby trafficking”.

Parker, whose real name is Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, is one of the UK’s most recognisable anti-trans campaigners and recently launched the single-issue Party of Women – which failed to secure any seats in the local elections or later general election.

On Monday (29 July), Daley and his diving partner Noah Williams won a silver medal in the men’s 10m synchronised platform diving final at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Following the win, the BBC interviewed Daley’s husband, Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who gave an emotional description of the “different level” of effort his husband put into training, saying it was all because of their children.

Daley’s medal is his fifth in five Games.

Parker responded with a scathing post, attacking Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black for having their children via surrogacy.

“Baby trafficking should not be celebrated or normalised. Those poor babies stolen from their bonded mother at birth, it’s as inhumane as it gets. We wouldn’t do this to dogs,” she wrote on X/Twitter, adding that she opposed “all surrogacy, not just men who do it”.

Baby trafficking should not be celebrated or normalised. Those poor babies stolen from their bonded mother at birth, it’s as inhumane as it gets. We wouldn’t do this to dogs.

I criticise all surrogacy, not just men who do it.

— Kellie-Jay Keen (@ThePosieParker) July 29, 2024

Several social media users hit back at Parker, accusing her of homophobia and bigotry, which resulted in heated exchanges.

“What about the women who willingly help these families by giving them the gift of life,” one person asked.

“What about the baby? No birth story, no maternal bond, traumatised at birth,” she replied.

The social media user accused Parker of not caring about the “maternal bond”, claiming: “You care that it’s two gay men with a family, your homophobia reeks.”

Parker then replied: “Good one, avoid talking about the abuse of a baby with random accusations. Why do you think babies should be sold?”

The person hit back again with: “I love you avoided my previous response first… the baby wasn’t ‘sold’, the mother was protected and looked after [while] she carried the baby then passed them over to their parents, just say you’re homophobic and move on.”

Surrogacy sees a third-party carry a baby for a couple who are unable to conceive, or who
can’t carry a child themselves for medical or physical reasons. Rules for surrogacy differ around the world: for example, in the UK, surrogates can only be paid reasonable expenses, whereas in the US surrogates and egg donors are compensated.

Surrogacy, and particularly paid surrogacy, has been attacked by conservative figures recently.

In April, Daily Wire host Michael Knowles dubbed it “grave, grave child abuse”, saying: “Everyone involved is gravely, gravely evil… [including] the egg donor [and] the people purchasing the child.”

In the same month, Italy’s right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the populist Brothers of Italy party, voiced her continued support for a bill that would make surrogacy a “universal crime”.

At a conference in Rome, she said: “I continue to believe that surrogacy is an inhuman practice.”

Last year, US right-wing pundit Matt Walsh called surrogacy “mad-scientist horror”, adding that anyone agreeing with his definition was “more perceptive than the average moderate conservative who is always on hand to wish a hearty congratulations to gay couples who engage in this trafficking”.