LGBTQ+ cabaret performers drown out anti-trans rally with joyous dance party

When a group of anti-transgender activists tried to hold a rally in Edinburgh, Scotland, to protest a new law that bans hate speech, they found themselves in a competition with a group of nearby cabaret performers.

J.K. Rowling has used the law’s passage to gin up more anger at the trans community by misgendering a laundry list of unsavory trans women pulled from the extremes and daring Scottish police to arrest her. Realizing it was a publicity stunt by the formerly respected Harry Potter author who wasn’t even in the country, authorities declined to press charges.

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To some extent, the effort worked as the anti-trans protestors, led by English activist Kellie-Jay Keen, gathered to repeat Rowling’s claims and follow in her footsteps. The international activist hides behind the name Parker Posie when spewing hateful rhetoric about minority groups. She said she was also trying to test the law to copycat Rowling.

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But when the activists showed up for their Let Women Speak rally, they found a much larger crowd of protestors awaiting them. Despite having microphones, they claimed their voices weren’t heard because a nearby group of cabaret performers’ music was too loud.

Cabaret Against Hate Performers is a group that organizes “counter-protests against all forms of hate speech across Scotland with live music, song, and dance.”

“It’s pure harassment and intimidation. They are deliberately going out to cause upset,” the activists complained to the rightwing British newspaper The Telegraph. “Women are trying to talk about their lives and are being subject to torrents of sexist and homophobic abuse.”

The crowd of counter-protestors was primarily made up of LGBTQ+ people.

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A post shared by Revolutionary Socialism Edinburgh – rs21 (@rs21edinburgh)