Anti-trans protester wears black morph suit and nappy in bizarre stunt
At an anti-trans protest in – where else – Britain, a man threw on a black morph suit to parody trans rights protesters. (Screen captures via Twitter)
A white YouTuber has denied he took part in “blackface” after wearing a full-body morph suit and a nappie during an anti-trans protest.
So-called “gender-critical” activists rallied in Hyde Park, London, on 29 May for the “Save Our Sex Jubilee campaign”.
Kellie-Jay Keen, otherwise known as Posie Parker, spoke at the gathering. It was organised by the Women’s Rights Network, a grassroots group that is “protecting women and girls”, according to its Twitter profile.
In a surreal scene, an anti-trans activist ran into the gathering wearing a black morph suit and nappy, and holding a sign reading “Real feminist” and “Right Side of History!” on the other side.
“I am on the right side of history,” he can be heard shouting in video footage.
“I love Stella Creasy,” he added, referring to the Labour MP and trans ally. “She knows women have penises!”
He was then given a dummy as a speaker, author Dr Em, escorted him away to cheers from attendees.
#BlackPampers about?
Don't worry @PankhurstEM knows how to deal with them ? pic.twitter.com/5N8AEm1CuQ
— Kellie-Jay Keen (@StandingforXX) May 29, 2022
The costume was a reference to a group of activists who interrupted the anti-trans “Standing for Women” protest in Manchester on 15 May.
The group wore black balaclavas and scarves and stood in front of a statue of suffragette organiser Emmeline Pankhurst in an attempt to impede the event.
Anti-trans Twitter users nicknamed them the “Black Pampers“, in reference to the Black revolutionary group, the Black Panthers.
Footage of the stunt was met with disbelief and scorn online, with some accusing the man of wearing blackface.
This is clearly blackface and calling the figure black pampers is a rift on black panthers. You use a name of a black revolutionary party and then claim it has nothing to do with black people. How naive do you think we are?@StandingforXX pic.twitter.com/iwcNQQH7RD— RadFem Collective (@RadFemCollectiv) May 30, 2022
This latest bizarre narrative concocted by ‘gender critical’ transphobes is in response to the trans-ally ‘black bloc’ counter-protestors protecting their identities at Kellie-Jay’s transphobic Manchester event.
The ‘GC’ transphobes nicknamed them ‘the black pampers’ ? https://t.co/agstoYB0GD— Helen?️⚧️✊?? (@mimmymum) May 30, 2022
GCs are so embarrassing https://t.co/jx6ZKwplNN— Katy Montgomerie ?? (@KatyMontgomerie) May 30, 2022
The man responsible for the stunt was Mr Menno, best-known for making a “sea shanty” for anti-trans pressure group the LGB Alliance.
In a statement, Mr Menno denied that his costume amounted to blackface and said that he wore a black morph suit instead of a balaclava as it was “more theatrical”.
“I performed a parody of a group of white protesters who tried to disrupt a Standing For Women event led by Kellie-Jay Keen in Manchester on 15 May,” Mr Menno said.
“The protesters were dressed in ‘black bloc’ and my costume borrowed directly from their outfits; all black and face covered with a balaclava. I chose a black morph suit rather than standard black trousers and black top as I felt it would lend a more theatrical, silly and comedic feel to it, and therefore not be threatening to the women on Sunday like the actual black bloc we’d seen in Manchester, which was very intimidating.
“The black wig and shades are references to their organiser Jane (also white) who sported these in an interview with Piers Morgan. I added a nappy to make a statement about what I believe to be the highly immature behaviour of both Jane and the protesters.
“None of the women of colour present on Sunday interpreted my act or costume as blackface and there were various eye-rolls and groans when we started seeing the blackface accusations on Twitter.
“A white person parodying white protesters and their outfits is not blackface, just as males can’t be lesbians and women don’t have penises.”
Mr Menno was one of the speakers at the Manchester demonstration, where he told the crowd it is a “lie” to say trans women are women and urged “men” to “stay out of … women’s lane”.
As “gender-critical” groups giggle at Mr Menno’s stunt, trans people are facing fire from all sides in Britain.
Transphobic hate crimes have spiralled in recent years, rising by at least 332 per cent from 2014 to 2021, per police figures.
The Conservative government, meanwhile, has increasingly taken aim at what threadbare rights trans Brits have. Ministers have left trans people out of a planned conversion therapy ban, have compared being trans to “child sex abuse” and said schools shouldn’t support trans youth.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has said trans women don’t have a place in women’s sports and mocked trans people when pressed by Labour leader Keir Starmer about the cost of the living crisis gripping Britain.
Trans people who are barraged with anti-trans media coverage are more likely to experience depression and other negative mental health outcomes, researchers found.
