NZ Trans Activist’s House Broken Into In Suspected Hate Crime

Trans activist and 2023 young New Zealander Shaneel Lal said that their home was broken into in a suspected hate crime. 

Lal, who was at the forefront of the campaign to ban gay conversion therapy became the first trans person to be honoured at the New Zealander of the Year awards in earlier this year. 

Lal has spoken out against anti-trans campaigners like Posie Parker and recently released their memoir One Of Them. 

Hate Messages After Home Break-in

The activist took to Instagram recently to share that their home had been broken into. Initially, they thought they were a random target but soon realised that it could have been a targeted attack motivated by hate. 

“Things took an insidious turn when I received a message on Thursday night from a burner account saying they would “come back” for me,” Lal revealed. 

“The account disappeared within an hour, but a new account emerged on Friday, threatening they “will get [me] next time” and “will come back for [me]” and that I should “watch [my] back”. The accounts called me a “gr**mer” and a “p*do”.”

Lal said that the profile picture used by the Instagram account to send them threats matched a Twitter account that had been harassing them for around a year. 

Activist Faces Hate After Release Of Their Memoir

“My well-being is back at square one. My book has unleashed an unprecedented level of anti-queerness. I hope everyone can see TERFs and anti-queer groups for who they are. These people are willing to break into my home and hurt me for writing a book about my life,” Lal said. 

According to Lal, they reported the break-in to police, “who’ve been no help. New fences are going up, and soon, security cameras.”

In a post last month, Lal shared about the experiences that shaped them and said they had faced hate after the release of their memoir. 

“When I was growing up in a small village in Fiji, there was one visibly queer person – Vicky – she was a transgender woman. I looked at Vicky’s life as how mine would play out if I accepted I was queer. One day on the bus home from school, I watched other students hurl slurs, throw rubbish and spit at Vicky. In that moment I realised that if I accepted I was queer, this would be my reality,” said Lal. 

One Of Them

“When the religious leaders offered me conversion therapy, I was already afraid of what it meant to be queer. I didn’t see a happy me represented in the world so I couldn’t imagine a future with me in. I went into conversion therapy hoping to change.”

Lal also took aim at anti-trans campaigners. “An entire generation of queer people are growing up watching TERFs relentlessly abuse queer people. Young queer people fear their future will be filled with abuse, and so they go into hiding. TERFs want young queer people to suffer in silence.”

“TERFs want to erase One of Them because it shows young queer people that there is a reality in which they can be themselves and instead of being abused, they will be celebrated. One of Them is my story of turning pain into power. TERFs fear nothing more than young queer people taking agency over their life,” added Lal.