About 40 people protested outsideĀ The GuardianāsĀ London headquarters on Thursday, accusing the British newspaper of repeated transphobia.
The group held Trans pride flags and a large painted sign that said, āGuardian is Transphobic.ā They also marched down the street chanting, āWhat do we want? Trans rights! When do want them? Now!ā
Related: 100 students walk out after girl gets suspended for defending gay friend from violent bullies
there are more people here now and also Guardian staff leaving the building after work, some stopping to listen. the protestors just did a lap of the road opposite the entrance chanting āwhat do we want? trans rights! when do we want them? nowā pic.twitter.com/5pQsWcmeYB
ā PinkNews (@PinkNews) October 7, 2021
While there were many articles in The Guardianās history that spurred the protest, the catalyst was an op-ed by Catherine Bennett in the newspaperās weekly publication, The Observer,Ā that used the recent murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard to argue that āthose who self-declare their sex and who are perceived as malesā should not be allowed in womenās spaces.
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Everard, a cisgender woman, was abducted and killed by police officer Wayne Couzens, a cisgender man. In the piece, Bennett says that allowing trans women into places like restrooms will allow āthe same sort of opportunist from appearing in women-only changing rooms.ā
Natacha Kennedy, who organized Thursdayās protest, toldĀ PinkNewsĀ she couldnāt believe a mainstream publication would appropriate Everardās murder to further an anti-trans agenda.
āI thought there would be somebody in the anti-trans community who would do this,ā Kennedy said, āone of the really extreme fanatics, but I really did not expect it to be The GuardianĀ using her memory to oppress people. I really never thought The GuardianĀ would sink this low.ā
iām @vicparsons_, gender & identity reporter here at PinkNews, reporting today from a protest outside the London headquarters of The Guardian. people have gathered to demand that the newspaper āstop platforming transphobiaā pic.twitter.com/ml1SrFjsqw
ā PinkNews (@PinkNews) October 7, 2021
A trans man named Jamie also attended the protest, making the trip from Manchester to London to be there.
āOn many occasions this year Iāve felt driven to end my life,ā he toldĀ PinkNews, ābecause of the transphobic hate in the newspapers, and the way society takes up that hatred.ā
After the column on Everard was published, many also took to Twitter to announce they were cancelling their GuardianĀ subscriptions.
Screenwriter Sarah Morgan wrote, āAs a lifelong reader and sometime Guardian contributor, I try to ignore their āgender criticalā platforming (rather than legitimize the idea of ādebateā), but I canāt conscionably support the exploitation of a horrible tragedy by this dangerous nonsense.ā
ā¦As a lifelong reader and sometime Guardian contributor, I try to ignore their 'gender critical' platforming (rather than legitimise the idea of 'debate'), but I can't conscionably support the exploitation of a horrible tragedy by this dangerous nonsense.
ā Sarah Morgan (@sarahlmorgan) October 3, 2021
Another user wrote, āThe only way you could reasonably draw a connection between Sarah Everard and trans women is by discussing them as victims of violence. Not by falsely painting the latter as a danger to society (when trans people in reality face higher rates of violence than cis people).ā
The only way you could reasonably draw a connection between Sarah Everard and trans women is by discussing them as victims of violence. Not by falsely painting the latter as a danger to society (when trans people in reality face higher rates of violence than cis people) @guardian https://t.co/vaSdKpAWIg
ā Nina (@NinaAUT) October 3, 2021
In the past month alone, trans activists have gathered at The Guardian offices two other times to protest what they call similarly transphobic rhetoric.
Once, it was to protest the publication of an interview with gender theorist Judith Butler, during which they linked Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) with fascism. The interviewer, Jules Gleeson, called the publication out for deleting some of Butlerās most biting comments.
āHabitual bigots online are going to do their thing, and usually respond to pieces without even reading them,ā Gleeson told HuffPost. āWhatās been more unexpected was how quickly the publication folded.ā
The GuardianĀ has since re-inserted Butlerās comments into the interview.
A spokesperson for the publication told Huffpost, āWe have not censored Judith Butler but addressed a failure in our editorial standards.ā
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