Senator Lidia Thorpe Thrown To The Ground At Kellie-Jay Keen’s Anti-Trans Rally
Image: Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe is manhandled after attempting to disrupt British anti-transgender rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker at a “Let Womaen Speak” anti trans rally outside Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, March 23, 2023. (AAP Image/Michelle Haywood)
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was manhandled and thrown to the ground by police and private security guards when she attempted to confront British anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen in Canberra on Thursday.
Keen, also known by her online handle Rosie Parker, is on an Australia-wide tour with her ‘Let Women Speak’ event. She has been met with counter-protests in different cities. Neo-Nazis attend her Melbourne anti-trans rally leading to a public outcry. Canberra was her last stop before she headed to New Zealand with her tour.
On a rainy Thursday morning, Keen held a rally with a small group of her followers outside Parliament. While most Coalition MPs stayed away from the anti-trans rally, One Nation Senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts and United Australia Party’s Ralph Babet rocked up to support the anti-trans activist.
You Are Not Welcome
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has been stopped by police from Kellie-Jay Keen’s speech, right in front of Pauline Hanson before joining the counter-rally via @canberratimes #auspol pic.twitter.com/nYUPBAHWCF
— Sarah Basford Canales (@sbasfordcanales) March 23, 2023
Keen was speaking to her supporters when Senator Thorpe rushed towards the podium carrying a First Nations flag.
“You are not welcome,” Thorpe shouted at Keen, before a private security guard pushed her, and police pulled her to the ground. As police tried to hold on to her, Senator Thorpe crawled away and then walked to a much larger group of cheering counter-protestors and trans activists, who were standing around 50 metres away.
“We do not tolerate this kind of filth being on Ngunnawal-Ngarigo country,” Thorpe later told media persons, referring to Keen and her anti-trans group.
“Let alone the Nazi support that they have. They are racist. They are homophobic. They are destroying people’s lives. This country should be ashamed that they even let people like this into this country,” said Senator Thorpe.
Pulverised And Assaulted
Watch the moment Lidia Thorpe tried to confront participants at a Let Women Speak event in Canberra.
Read more here: https://t.co/5Z7dmb0MAR
Via NITV. pic.twitter.com/l0MUhmKl1N
— SBS News (@SBSNews) March 23, 2023
The Senator said that she went to tell Keen that she was “not welcome here”. Thorpe said she had been “pulverised” and “assaulted” by the police.
“The police need to answer for the assault but also this government needs to answer for why these people are let into the country,” Thorpe added.
Greens Senator Janet Rice also stood with the counter-protesters in solidarity with the trans community.
You Got Nazis On Your Side…
WATCH the now infamous train-wreck anti-trans rally in Hobart, Australia. Speaker 'Posie Parker' was left seething after just ten supporters turned up, lashing out abuse at crowds of Aussie locals as she unravelled before them. #auspol pic.twitter.com/saK07vKZnz
— PRGuy (@PRGuy17) March 21, 2023
Keen’s disastrous Australia tour has been characterised by unhinged rants against the trans community, a small group of supporters and hundreds of counter-protesters, shouting ‘Posie Parker you can’t hide, you’ve got Nazis on your side’.
In Melbourne, neo-Nazi members of the Nationalist Socialist Network attended the anti-trans rally, performing the Nazi salute outside Victorian Parliament. Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who attended and spoke at Keen’s rally in Melbourne, is facing expulsion from the Parliamentary party.
In Hobart, frustrated with a handful of her supporters who turned up, as opposed to 400 counter-protestors, Keen railed against the city. She called Hobart, “the worst place I’ve ever been’. She also targeted Greens MP Nick McKim’s trans stepson.
