Rising above the mob

Robert Jessel

IN MARCH 2020, HUNDREDS OF LABOUR supporting women gathered in North Kensington to discuss the party’s proposed pledge to expel members deemed transphobic. The event was protested by a large crowd of trans activists who set off smoke bombs, chanted slogans through megaphones and thumped on the venue’s windows. Inside the hall, the cacophony made it almost impossible to hear the speakers. Afterwards, women were forced to run the gauntlet of activists yelling “TERF!”, while photographers snapped close-ups so attendees could be identified and shamed online. As a volunteer steward that evening, I’ll never forget the sight of women scurrying away, faces covered, terrified of the consequences of exercising their democratic right to free assembly and free speech. That this meeting does not merit even a footnote in Jenny Lindsay’s…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024

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