Trans activists shout down women's free speech event, police called
( Post Millennial )
A women’s free speech event on Sunday was interrupted by activists intent on preventing women from advocating for their sex-based rights.
Organizers and attendees of "Speaker’s Corner" gathered at Independence Park in Philadelphia in front of the Liberty Bell. Part of the event that streamed live on a YouTube channel hosted by Amy Sousa captured an altercation that resulted in heavy police presence.
Gabrielle Clark, a mother known for her advocacy to keep social justice ideology out of public schools, opened the event with an invigorating message. Kara Danksy, President of the US chapter of Women’s Declaration International and author of The Abolition of Sex: How the 'Transgender' Agenda Harms Women and Girls, was introduced next.
But only 5 minutes into the event, trans activists arrived on the scene with megaphones and noise makers and attempted to drown out the women’s rights speakers by repetitively chanting "TERFs go home!"
The activists, making every effort to disrupt the event, attempted to block the camera’s view of Danksy by invading her personal space. One aggressively grabbed the microphone Danksy was holding and yelled "Shut the f*ck up!"
The tension peaked when a group of activists crowded around Danksy and shouted in her face. Worried for her safety, some of the event’s organizers attempted to place themselves between Danksy and the increasingly aggressive activists. When one of the activists tripped over themselves, chaos ensued and the camera feed cut out.
"I have just been told the police are in fact on their way," said Sousa, during the confrontation. Shortly thereafter, police arrived on the scene.
Danksy told The Post Millennial, "The event organizers had secured a permit, but the park police were completely unprepared for what happened. Those protesting us were permitted to grab our signage and our equipment. They were permitted to position themselves physically between us and our camera and to make hand gestures that easily could have become violent assaults. One of them repeatedly bumped a flag up against me, despite repeated requests not to physically touch me. Eventually, the park police ordered them to move away from us physically, though they were permitted to continue chanting and disrupting the event."
Lunatics #LetWomenSpeak #WomenWontWeesht pic.twitter.com/l50DNBMiKM — Kara Dansky (@KDansky) August 7, 2022
Dansky shared a brief clip of the large crowd that gathered on Twitter, showing event attendees and protestors banging on drums while chanting "Trans rights are human rights, fight, fight, fight!" into megaphones.
Philly Speakers Corner was ALL THE WAY LIVE!! ??? we had rabid TRA counter protestors, and 10 cop cars full of police officer presence all because a couple of Women Dared to Speak on Independence Mall?? @RevFemStBeat @cnnhahn @KnownHeretic @KDansky @GabsClark5 pic.twitter.com/sf6zYUcmAo — ? ???????? ??????? ?????? (@ASTFxx) August 7, 2022
Despite the chaos and disruptions, the event attendees each took their turn holding the microphone to exercise their Constitutional rights to free speech and freedom to assemble.