Editorial: Did Posie Parker get what she was after with Auckland visit?

Posie Parker is rushed from Albert Park in central Auckland on Saturday. Photo / Dean Purcell

Public protests by their nature are emotional events, with people motivated to get off their sofas and join others in shouting aloud their private views.

Sometimes protests can have a celebratory vibe that provides a group of people with support and solidarity. At other times they can be about anger, defiance and resilience.

Demonstrations can be about a general issue and how to deal with it politically - from nuclear power decades ago to climate change now - or a single policy challenge.

Israel’s large street protests over government judicial changes have been going on for months and are typical of mass action sparked by specific concerns among a sizeable section of a population. Another anti-government movement against pension reforms in France has involved peaceful marches, incidents of vandalism, strikes and disruption.

Protest scenes in Auckland at the weekend were more about people’s world views and societal shifts, about personal identity and ideology rather than any direct political moves.

It was a small battle to influence other people’s attitudes as part of the West’s culture wars, which New Zealand isn’t immune to but has largely avoided.

The visit by British gender activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, aka Posie Parker, involved the stunt politics of provocation and reaction.

With the Albert Park skirmishes and juice-spraying, there was a lot of public attention on her rally. Counter-protesters were able to cut her trip short. She livestreamed her attempt to make a speech, and being escorted out. The event has grabbed attention overseas.

Keen-Minshull, someone a lot of Kiwis probably had never heard about before last week, is a controversial figure. In Australia, neo-Nazi groups and people with anti-vaccine slogans had attended her events.

Activist groups had filed an attempt to prevent Keen-Minshull from entering the country, a move dismissed by the High Court. The Auckland counter-protesters heckled her but were mostly peaceful, aside from the spraying incident.

A sense of grievance and victimhood oils the wheels of culture warriors and their supporters in the US and UK - the “they don’t want you to hear what I’ve got to say” approach.

In that light, Keen-Minshull “gained” plenty from her visit for use on social media: with the attempt to stop her from entering; being pelted at a protest; leaving under security protection; and being forced to abandon her rally.

Arguably a better way to handle intentional disruptors such as Keen-Minshull would be to let them speak without fuss and amplification to the few people here interested in hearing what they have to say. In Australia and Auckland, counter-protesters easily outnumbered Keen-Minshull supporters.

Keen-Minshull’s visit has drawn attention to the issue of transgender rights here and festive rallies were held yesterday in Wellington and Christchurch. In the UK it’s been a more divisive issue , with varied opinions aired.

Human rights issues generally are highly emotive. How do people wanting to positively promote these and other values find a balance between advancing awareness and explaining change with empathy, while not hectoring others and stamping on areas of reasonable debate?

We should be able to cope with differences, including some outbreaks of stupidity, and allow people to think for themselves, without playing into anyone’s hands.