A self-described “feminine rights” group’s event sparked the formation of a counter demonstration outside Aberdeen’s Marischal College last weekend, The Gaudie reports.
Let Women Speak (LWS), led by Kellie Jay Keen, describes itself as a “global constituency of women” that focuses “specifically on the word ‘woman’, and other female language that clearly defines us, and our rights.“
LWS has experienced a number of controversies due to their promotion of a Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) ideology that doesn’t accept nor include transgender women in their definition of feminism.
Leader Keen has publicly opposed many transgender recognition bills and inclusivity bills such as the Gender Recognition Act. In their advertising for the event, Keen took to X (formally Twitter) to post about the Aberdeen event. According to her videos, the event had originally been cancelled due to concerns over backlash and violence, causing the group to have to change venues.
She also publicly condemned the original cancellation of the event by Aberdeen councillors and encouraged the people in attendance to use that day as a platform to speak out.
The group’s two day event, planned between the 8th and 9th of March, oversaw an itinerary including public talks hosted by the group, and a dinner, comedy performance and “TERFisco” for ticket holders.
The Gaudie attended the events outside Marischal College, with reporters listening both to the public LWS talks and the counter demonstration.
One LWS speaker took the opportunity to talk about the oppression of women in Afghanistan stating:
“Afghanistan and Iran demonstrate to us that the fight for women’s rights is never over.”
She went on to condemn the Scottish government for their stance on “self ID” and states that:
“Women are entitled to single sex-spaces and services but not in Scotland apparently.”
These statements were met with chants of “shame” from the counter demonstration.
The Gaudie spoke with Esme Houston from the University of Aberdeen’s LGBTQ Forum. Houston described LWS as being “fundamentally bigoted or even fascistic in their views.”
She continued to explain the counter demonstration’s purpose:
“Any action by such a group requires sustained and substantive opposition.”
This group echoes much of the wider sentiment felt by LGBTQ groups.
/The Gaudie/ spoke to an anonymous University of Aberdeen alum who was one of the demonstration’s organisers, to ask what provoked the creation of the protest against LWS’s events:
“To create some noise, with the hope that if Aberdeen knows that events like these are happening, they oppose it.”
The counter demonstration attracted a large crowd, full of flags, signs, and chants. Police lined the barriers between the two groups, but the protests remained peaceful.
Chants of “This is what community/feminism/solidarity looks like”, “Fascists go home” and “stand up fight back” rang out loudly from the counter demonstration, overpowering the micro-phoned speeches from LWS.
The Gaudie spoke to Mateo, an attendee of the counter demonstration to find out why he felt the protest was important to be a part of:
“It meant a lot to me as a queer person because this divide has been slowly tearing our community apart, especially from the inside out. The whole “LGB minus the T” movement is not only ignoring history but it is also making us more of a target.
“It deprives me of my rights and it works to silence the voices that matter the most in a time where it feels like every government and healthcare professional is against us.”
He explained the importance of the LGBTQ community ”sticking together” during this adversity:
“A community needs to stick together. One that is divided like this becomes vulnerable.”
