On Wednesday evening, a group of mothers in London drew protest from transgender activists when they held an event on women speaking about what it means to be a woman. During the event, which was disrupted, a transgender activist assaulted a 60-year-old woman.
British woman Maria MacLachlan was attacked by a male transgender activist who disrupted the event while she was videotaping a protest at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park. The protesters opposed a scheduled forum on gender and the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.
The forum was initially canceled according to the event’s host, New Cross Learning, due to safety reasons, but it relocated to Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park.
Threats by trans activist Tara Flik Wood were posted on Facebook, with further calls urging transgender activists to attend and disrupt the event. A statement by “No TERFS on our Turf” reads:
“Show up for our Trans sisters and disrupt the debate. Bring posters, bring guitars, bring drums, bring your Vuvuzela (if you have one) and your voices, and MAKE SOME NOISE TO DROWN OUT THESE NASTY TERFS BC TRANS WOMEN ARE WOMEN AND THAT IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE.”
Trans activists are opposed to women they consider to be “TERFs,” or “trans-exclusionary radical feminists,” a term they use to describe women who adhere to the biological and scientific definitions of sex and gender.
The discussion was set to include Dr. Julia Long, a lesbian feminist, and Miranda Yardley, a writer who identifies as transsexual.
Speaking to The Daily Caller, Yardley says that the 60-year-old MacLachlan was first attacked by a transgender activist who grabbed her camera. During the attack, which was captured on video, the activist can be seen destroying her equipment. The hooded figure can then be seen throwing a punch at MacLachlan.
The activists can be heard chanting “when TERFs attack, we fight back” shortly before the attack.
The creator of the video identified the attacker as transgender activist Tara Flik Wood, who posted threats against the discussion earlier that day.
MacLachlan told Daily Wire’s Amanda Prestigiacomo that she didn’t think any of the protesters were trans, and that “the only trans person was our speaker Miranda, who they were trying to silence.”
A 60-year-old woman has been beaten up by 4 Trans activists in Hyde Park. Footage out later. As can see one side of her face is purple. pic.twitter.com/kmoDMLFXTY
— Jen Isaacson ☀️ (@isacsohn) September 13, 2017
A picture of her bruise was posted on Twitter.
Yardley’s attempts to highlight the male-on-female violence has been met with a deluge of threats.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.