{"id":5498,"date":"2025-03-19T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T00:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=5498"},"modified":"2025-04-22T12:46:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T11:46:18","slug":"let-women-speak-event-sparks-counter-demonstration-outside-marischal-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2025\/03\/19\/let-women-speak-event-sparks-counter-demonstration-outside-marischal-college\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Let Women Speak\u2019 event sparks counter demonstration outside Marischal college"},"content":{"rendered":"

A self-described \u201cfeminine rights\u201d group\u2019s event sparked the formation of a counter demonstration outside Aberdeen\u2019s Marischal College last weekend, <\/span>The Gaudie<\/span><\/i>\u00a0reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let Women Speak (LWS), led by Kellie Jay Keen, describes itself as a \u201cglobal constituency of women\u201d that focuses \u201cspecifically on the word \u2018woman\u2019, and other female language that clearly defines us, and our rights.\u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

LWS has experienced a number of controversies due to their promotion of a Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) ideology that doesn\u2019t accept nor include transgender women in their definition of feminism.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/em> (formally Twitter<\/em>) 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The group\u2019s 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 \u201cTERFisco\u201d for ticket holders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gaudie<\/span><\/i>\u00a0attended the events outside Marischal College, with reporters listening both to the public LWS talks and the counter demonstration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One LWS speaker took the opportunity to talk about the oppression of women in Afghanistan stating:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfghanistan and Iran demonstrate to us that the fight for women\u2019s rights is never over.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She went on to condemn the Scottish government for their stance on \u201cself ID\u201d and states that:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWomen are entitled to single sex-spaces and services but not in Scotland apparently.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These statements were met with chants of \u201cshame\u201d from the counter demonstration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gaudie<\/span><\/i>\u00a0spoke with Esme Houston from the University of Aberdeen\u2019s LGBTQ Forum. Houston described LWS as being \u201cfundamentally bigoted or even fascistic in their views.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She continued to explain the counter demonstration\u2019s purpose:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny action by such a group requires sustained and substantive opposition.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This group echoes much of the wider sentiment felt by LGBTQ groups.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\/The Gaudie\/<\/span><\/i> spoke to an anonymous University of Aberdeen alum who was one of the demonstration\u2019s organisers, to ask what provoked the creation of the protest against LWS\u2019s events:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo create some noise, with the hope that if Aberdeen knows that events like these are happening, they oppose it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chants of \u201cThis is what community\/feminism\/solidarity looks like\u201d, \u201cFascists go home\u201d and \u201cstand up fight back\u201d rang out loudly from the counter demonstration, overpowering the micro-phoned speeches from LWS.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Gaudie <\/span><\/i>spoke to Mateo, an attendee of the counter demonstration to find out why he felt the protest was important to be a part of:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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 \u201cLGB minus the T\u201d movement is not only ignoring history but it is also making us more of a target.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He explained the importance of the LGBTQ community \u201dsticking together\u201d during this adversity:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA community needs to stick together. One that is divided like this becomes vulnerable.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A self-described \u201cfeminine rights\u201d group\u2019s event sparked the formation of a counter demonstration outside Aberdeen\u2019s Marischal College last weekend, The Gaudie\u00a0reports. Let Women Speak (LWS), led by Kellie Jay Keen, describes itself as a \u201cglobal constituency of women\u201d that focuses \u201cspecifically on the word \u2018woman\u2019, and other female language that clearly defines us, and our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":5499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":31,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[254,1222,177,1226,329,1223,1225,1184,396,1224],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-5498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-aberdeen","9":"tag-ameila-boag-mcglynn","10":"tag-feminism","11":"tag-gender-recognition-act","12":"tag-hannah-fortune","13":"tag-lgbt","14":"tag-marshal-college","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-protest","17":"tag-trans-rights"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Gaudie Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/gaudie-staff\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Picture-1-300x225.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Aberdeen<\/a>","ameila boag mcglynn<\/a>","feminism<\/a>","gender recognition act<\/a>","Hannah Fortune<\/a>","LGBT<\/a>","marshal college<\/a>","news<\/a>","protest<\/a>","trans rights<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Aberdeen<\/span>","ameila boag mcglynn<\/span>","feminism<\/span>","gender recognition act<\/span>","Hannah Fortune<\/span>","LGBT<\/span>","marshal college<\/span>","news<\/span>","protest<\/span>","trans rights<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 1 year ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 19 March 2025","modified":"Updated on 22 April 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 19 March 2025 00:00","modified":"Updated on 22 April 2025 12:46"},"featured_img_caption":"Protestors at LWS event. Credit: Amelia Boag McGlynn.","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5500,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5498\/revisions\/5500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5498"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=5498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}