Posie Parker’s anti-trans rally in Belfast faces larger counter-protest; group refused service in pubs due to offensive behaviour.

Counter protestors at Posie Parker's rally, Belfast, 16 April 2023
Counter protestors at Posie Parker’s rally, Belfast, 16 April 2023
  • Posie Parker held an anti-trans rally in Belfast, facing a larger counter-protest from various groups, including feminists and LGBTQ+ organisations.
  • Parker has made hateful statements at her rallies, leading to widespread criticism and her events drawing neo-Nazis and gender-critical supporters.
  • The anti-trans group faced difficulties in Belfast pubs, being refused service in multiple establishments due to their offensive behaviour and attire.

After cancelling her appearance in Dublin because she reportedly failed to apply for permission, Posie Parker, AKA Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (KJK), turned up in Belfast to hold one of her anti-trans rallies on 16 April 2023.

She was greeted by around 100 supporters, most of whom seemed to have arrived from outside of Northern Ireland, and a significantly larger counter-protest featuring a wide range of groups, from feminist and LGBTQ+ organisations, to anarchists and anti fa.

The North Says Trans Joy banner hanging behind KJK's Belfast rally, photo credit Brendan J Harkin @brendanjharkin
‘The North Says Trans Joy’ banner hanging behind KJK’s Belfast rally, photo credit Brendan J Harkin @brendanjharkin

Parker had originally intended to hold her event in Writer’s Square, but, after failing to request permission, also found the space was booked for five hours by Songs for Solidarity, which welcomed an inclusive crowd that dwarfed all those who had turned up at The Big Fish.

Songs for Solidarity, Belfast, 16 April 2023
Songs for Solidarity, Belfast, 16 April 2023

The police, who formed their main line in front of those protesting close to Parker, numbered around 50, but were also dotted around the main streets leading between both spaces.

Police stand in front of protestors at Posie Parker's anti-trans rally in Belfast, 16 April 2023
Police stand in front of protestors at Posie Parker’s anti-trans rally in Belfast, 16 April 2023

After the ‘Let Women Speak’ (as long as they hate trans people) event concluded, Parker was accused of making homophobic remarks and attacking the LGBTQ+ community’s appearance.

During the event, she described her experience rallying in Auckland, New Zealand, and said, “I have no idea why he was there representing the so-called LGBT+ community which, let’s face it, is a bunch of f**king men in dresses.”

Posie Parker's rally, Belfast, 16 April 2023
Posie Parker’s rally, Belfast, 16 April 2023

This followed on from her comments at an Adelaide rally, where she claimed there was not a “single normal heterosexual man in the crowd” as an attempt to insult pro-trans activists.

Parker’s events have drawn more than a little controversy, including her Melbourne rally where neo-Nazis marched alongside ‘gender-critical’ supporters, and noted that they had specifically come to support Parker.

She did not, and to my knowledge has still not, disavowed them.

Posie Parker was allowed in Australia, lets make sure her ideology isn’t

Keen has also previously said that lesbian partners should not be allowed to be named on birth certificates, and stresses, repeatedly, that she is ‘not a feminist’. Rather, she prefers to be called a ‘women’s rights campaigner’, although what rights, if any, she has fought for remain unclear.

Although many members of the anti-trans crowd had seemingly been hopeful of violence at the event to justify their victim complex, none took place until all the trans people went home and the anti-trans crew tried to get a drink in a number of Belfast pubs.

According to reports on social media, they were refused service in at least three pubs, while they also claimed one of their crowd had been headbutted by a barman in Robinsons.

This, of course, was their tale.

The cis man, who is allegedly known for getting into a bit of bother in pubs near other Posie Parker events, allegedly challenged a female member of the bar staff, shouting at her about genitals. When he was asked to leave, an alleged altercation took place.

Cue mass hysteria on Twitter.

They were then refused service by Wetherspoons, of all places.

There were even reports that, after being told they wouldn’t be served while wearing their offensive T-shirts, one took hers off and stood in her bra. Perfectly normal behaviour that would, of course, result in a person being refused service in any other bar.

They themselves reported a third bar had refused to serve them, but I could not verify that.

It seems that, as they made their way in search of a bar that would tolerate their anti-trans songs and slogans in the city that hosts the largest Pride in Ireland every year, Parker did not join them. I don’t blame her. The hotel she was reportedly staying in was £360-a-night and would have offered much better facilities.

But, as Parker herself said, she’s making so much money from her anti-trans grift, ‘it’s embarrassing’.

£360-a-night to her seems like loose change, especially when she is, by her own admission, funded by CPAC.

CPAC

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States. It has been held since 1974. CPAC’s main objectives used to be to promote conservative policies, principles, and political candidates. These generally included limited government, individual liberties, free markets, and strong national defence. 

In 2023, however, all that ‘normal’ conservatism is out the window and it’s all about being ‘anti woke’ above all else. 

The 2022 CPAC conference held in Washington, D.C. featured anti-transgender hate as a central theme, with speakers targeting transgender rights, gender-affirming healthcare, and inclusive policies.  

Prominent politicians and right-wing pundits, as well as conspiracy theorists and anti-LGBTQ+ extremists, participated in the event. They promoted false allegations about paedophilia in the LGBTQ+ community and demonised “transgenderism” as a radical ideology.  

The conference included attacks on trans-inclusive athletic regulations, bathroom policies, and gender-affirming healthcare providers, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and fostering a dangerous environment for transgender people.