Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull: Who is campaigner Posie Parker and why is she so controversial?

Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, is set to speak at events in New Zealand this week. Photo / Getty Images

In the past few days Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, has dominated headlines on both sides of the ditch.

The British activist widely labelled as anti-transgender and self-described as a women’s rights activist, rose to infamy in 2018 when it was reported she was questioned by police over alleged comments she made about Susie Green, the chief executive of Mermaids - an advocacy organisation for trans youth - and her daughter who transitioned.

Some of the alleged comments, according to the Christian Post, included tweets misgendering Green’s daughter and referencing “castration” about her transition.

The same year Women’s Place UK, an anti-gender self-identification group, distanced itself from Keen-Minshull by withdrawing a meeting she was due to speak at, after she wrote a series of tweets containing anti-Muslim sentiment.

Some of the posts referenced the suburb of Bradford, and claims that the culture was “not British”, and an “awful place for women”.

In 2019 Pink News reported the then US national press secretary for LGBT+ organisation Human Rights Campaign, Sarah McBride, was harassed and misgendered while at a meeting in Washington, DC, by Keen-Minshull.

The outlet said she told McBride to “tell the entire LGB community how much you hate lesbians”.

Keen-Minshull, who has spoken about being a wife and a mother of four, has since risen to be a key figure in the movement against the UK’s Gender Recognition Act and has led rallies on both sides of the Atlantic.

In March last year she appeared on controversial right-wing Fox host Tucker Carlson’s show to speak about an incident where she called trans US swimmer Leah Thomas, “not a woman”.

“I’m not a vet, but I know what a dog is,” she said in a poolside clip.

Speaking to Carlson, she said it was “her duty” to say it and people had been “brainwashed”.

“The only people that are able to be called a woman are actually men.”

More recently, Pink News reported in January a woman speaking at a rally organised as part of Keen-Minshull’s Let Women Speak tour shared a quote from Adolf Hitler in a speech against trans rights.

A video seen by the Herald shows the woman describing the “big lie”, saying it was first described in Hitler’s Mein Kampf and then claiming the “big lie” was that trans women were women.

Last week Keen-Minshull drew protests in Perth and Melbourne, with some people at the events seen giving Nazi salutes and shouting slurs at counter-protesters.

In light of the weekend’s events Immigration NZ general manager Richard Owen told the Herald the agency was now reviewing whether the woman should still be able to travel to New Zealand without a visa.

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau told the Herald Keen-Minshull’s views are strongly condemned and unwelcome in Wellington.

Whanau said although she cannot ban Keen-Minshull from speaking, she will support a counter-protest against her.

“Wellington is known as a diverse community that celebrates its rainbow and trans whānau,” she said.

“Her views are certainly not welcome.

“These views are dangerous and harmful for our community, and I am worried people are being so open about hating part of our community.

“We know with our trans whānau there is quite a high suicide rate and that’s because they are made to feel less than human – views that will be heard this weekend contribute to that.

“It is grotesque and disappointing that it’s here in our city.”