Shouting match as LGBT protesters halt anti-trans meeting

A group of LGBT protesters has infiltrated a “women’s rights” meeting inside NSW Parliament, briefly shutting it down.

Tensions have exploded inside NSW Parliament as LGBT protesters loudly interrupted a
“women’s rights” meeting before being dragged away by security.

A group of four protesters from Pride in Protest managed to infiltrate the invitation-only event hosted by Liberal Democrat John Ruddick, which was labelled as addressing the “war on women who speak out for sex-based rights”.

Speakers at the event included Victorian MP Moira Deeming, who was expelled from the Liberal party room after speaking at an anti-trans rally in March.

Event organisers tried to usher the group out, but some members did not budge until security intervened.

“Don't touch me," several of the protesters were heard saying.

One elderly gentleman waved his hand in the face of one of the protesters.

The event also featured Katherine Deeves, a former Liberal party candidate who has come under fire for her views on transgender people.

The group interrupted Mr Ruddick as soon as the meeting began, their shouting halting proceedings for a few minutes until they were removed.

“You are disgusting, you don’t know what the real issues women face are,” one protester is heard shouting above the booing from attendees.

One member of the crowd was seen trying to remove the protesters herself before security arrived but was met with resistance from the group.

Speakers at the event included controversial figures such as Katherine Deeves (pictured) and Moira Deeming.

An elderly man was then seen approaching one protester, who demanded he not touch her.

One of the protesters told NCA NewsWire that she wasn’t afraid of interrupting the meeting, despite knowing there would be backlash from the crowd.

“I was more just angry when I got into the room,” she said.

Greens MP Jenny Leong supported the group from outside Parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

The protesters labelled the women inside as ‘TERFS’ or ‘Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists’, meaning they don’t accept transgender women as women. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

Around 80 people protested outside parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

“We talked about it a lot before so we knew what we were doing.”

Pride in Protest has vowed to “push back every time” against transphobia, spokesperson Dashie said.

“The question is do you bow down to Nazis, do you bow down to people who are going to abuse you, or do you recognise that we’re stronger in numbers and that they’re on the losing side?” they said.

“Trans people face violence, day in and day out … that’s the real-life consequences of hate speech.”

A larger group of pro-trans activists also gathered outside state parliament to protest the ‘Why Can’t Women Talk About Sex?’ forum.

The group made up of members of Pride in Protest, the National Union of Students and Community Action for Rainbow Rights were addressed by several speakers.