Dramatic scenes as anti-trans protestors clash with LGBTQI activists as ‘transphobe’ UK speaker continues her controversial tour of Australia
- Protestors clashed at transgender rights rally
- Members from alt-right group were present
Protestors have clashed at a transgender rights rally in Melbourne as UK anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen continued her national tour in Victoria.
About 30 people from alt-right group National Socialist Movement marched along Spring Street near the Victorian Parliament on Saturday afternoon.
Disturbing footage showed masked protestors holding signs calling transgender people offensive names and performing Nazi salutes.
Police officers were forced to create a line to separate the transgender rights activists from clashing with members of the alt-right group.
In one video the masked men can be seen marching around the street as trans rights activists shout over the wall of officers.
‘F*** you, Nazis,’ one woman screamed. ‘F*** you!’
At least two people have been arrested as wild scenes unfolded with officers forced to discharge pepper spray into the crowd.
Protestors have clashed during a transgender rights rally in Melbourne on Saturday
Police officers remove a protestor during the transgender rights rally as tensions boiled over in Melbourne
Protestors clashed outside Parliament House in Melbourne as Kellie-Jay Keen made an appearance
Transgender rights supporter holds a placard during the rally staged in Melbourne on Saturday
Members from the alt-right group clashed with hundreds of others who were rallying for transgender rights.
The pro-trans group held signs that included messages such as ‘women aren’t defined by their bodies’.
One activist screamed as she was pulled along the ground by her arms by two officers.
Another pair of officers were forced to intervene as an anti-trans activist and protestor fought over an Australian flag.
Spring Street remained blocked to traffic in both directions.
Ms Keen, a self-described transphobe who also goes by the name Posie Parker, has been touring around the country visiting Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.
She believes it’s impossible to change gender and campaigns to exclude trans women from female-only spaces.
She also argues that trans people should be dead named and not have the right to chose their own pronouns.
Ms Keen, a self-described transphobe, has been touring around the country visiting Perth, Brisbane and Sydney
A group of protestors hold up an offensive sign as they clashed with trans rights activists on Saturday
Police discharged pepper spray into the crowd as scenes escalated in Melbourne
Ms Keen has sparked backlash during her tour with transgender rights activists turning up in force in Sydney last Saturday.
Chants of ‘bigots gone and anti-queer TERFS are not welcome here’ were shouted by LGBTQI+ groups while Ms Keen spoke to crowds.
TERF is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist and describes those feminists who reject the claim that transgender women are women.
Ms Keen has come under fierce criticism from many groups in the past, including for allegedly posing with a campaigner who celebrated Winnie Mandela’s death and called the anti-apartheid fighter ‘a whore’ and ‘white farmer murdering c***’.
She has also been slammed by a British MP for saying access to abortion and contraceptives need to be rolled back for children and teenagers.
Ms Keen raised eyebrows recently after she criticised British MP Jess Phillips for reading out the name of a teenage trans murder victim Brianna Ghey in the House of Commons during an International Women’s Day speech.
She has also spoken alongside a number of figures in far-right groups, including Christopher Barcenas, a member of the Proud Boys, who was deposed by the US government due to his presence at the January 6 Capitol riots.
More to come
Police officers created a human wall to separate the activists as tensions boiled over
Anti-trans activists performed the Hitler salute on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne
