As hundreds turned out in Melbourne to either support or protest visiting UK anti-transgender campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshul, similar action was taking place in Sydney.
About 100 people turned up to Queen’s Square in the Sydney CBD on Saturday morning to rally with the pro-LGBTQI+ Community Action for Rainbow Rights group.
The crowd was there to stage a counter-protest against a demonstration being held by a number of far right religious groups in Sydney who gathered under the ‘Stand for Our Children’s Futures’ banner.
The most well-known group represented among the conservative activists was Christian Lives Matter, whose members defaced a church and rallied during World Pride events held in the city last month.
But Sydney’s protests appeared to have been fairly subdued compared to the action in Melbourne in Saturday.
About 100 people showed up to counter-protest the Stand for Our Children’s Futures rally being held in Sydney on Saturday. Picture: Facebook
The moment a fascist thug interrupted Community Action for Rainbow Rights co-convenors speech at todays counter-protest. We will continue to counter-protest the anti-trans far right every time they rally. Transphobes you can’t hide, you’ve got Nazis on your side pic.twitter.com/Lhm84u87Wd
— Community Action for Rainbow Rights (@lgbti_sydney) March 18, 2023
Video posted to social media by the Community Action for Rainbow Rights group appears to show the moment some counter-protesters broke past police in order to get closer to the right-wing demonstrations.
Another video shared on social media appears to capture the moment a member of the anti-LGBTQI+ camp interrupted a speaker at the Queen’s Square demonstration.
A speaker at the counter-rally was interrupted by at least one anti-LGBT protester during a speech. Picture: Facebook
Social media groups relating to the organisations involved in the Children’s Futures rally are mainly set to private.
But Rainbow Rights member Jordan Humphreys wrote on social media to claim he had “infiltrated” the groups in order to get more information about Saturday’s demonstration.
“A lot of their concerns are about drag queens and teaching the children about sex education and LGBTQI+ people, and there not being laws about Christians being a persecuted minority, that’s the sort of politics of the rally,” Mr Humphreys wrote.
“We definitely get the sense that it’s a more serious demonstration than we might have supposed at first.”
Mr Humphreys claimed two right-wing NSW politicians and “about a dozen priests” from across Sydney were all “potentially involved”.
Read related topics:MelbourneSydney