October 25, 2022 - 7:00am

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster

Friday’s LGB Alliance conference in Central London was picketed by a small but vocal group of trans rights activists, who made their feelings against the campaign group heard. Many chose to dress in all black, hoods and balaclavas to hide their identity should any repercussions arise from their chanting “Kill the TERFs [trans-exclusionary radical feminists]!” 

Amid chants for “Revolution”, trans rights protestors later targeted prominent gender-critical activists Helen Joyce and Maya Forstater for their involvement with the conference.

As protestors milled around outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, several of them handed out flyers and pamphlets detailing the steps necessary for trans liberation. These documents were seen by UnHerd.

One leaflet that was distributed includes the following statement: ‘DIY is still the only way for trans youth in the UK’. Reasoning that the ‘NHS is still refusing to resume prescription of puberty blockers despite continued use in cis kids for precocious puberty’, the paper recommends those who can’t afford FFS (Facial Feminisation Surgery) to ‘consider botox and/or fillers’. It continues, saying that ‘smaller non-surgical tweaks may reduce gender dysphoria to a bearable level and is cheaper [sic]’, before giving price ranges for these botox and filler options. Beware, though: ‘these yuppies will try to sell you extra you don’t need and LESS IS MORE [their emphasis]’.

Taken from one of the flyers, comparing medical use of puberty blockers to an ethical trolley problem

These ‘yuppies’ are not the only opponents listed in these missives. A second flyer begins, ‘We are not in peacetime: we are in a cold war.’ Later it states, ‘Like many extremists, GCs [gender-critical feminists] lure reasonable people in with sensible-sounding criticisms like “we’re cancelled for saying sex is real” […] before slowly acclimating them to more radicalised views.’ Meanwhile, ‘[g]rowing authoritarianism in the UK is a symptom of these cavemen [women advocating for sex-based rights] exploiting every aspect of society as mere tools at their disposal.’ 

Elsewhere, these people are described as ‘a predator class who feed off of human suffering to strengthen their own egos’. One flyer about trans rights warns that their nebulous opponents ‘see a century of climate chaos ahead and refuse to concede any territory.’ 

A flyer distributed at the protest

Another leaflet provides a link to a website which advertises where to buy hormones and puberty blockers online without a prescription or waiting list. Young people are told to ‘not let this info get to parents, who might use it for ill’. Indeed, the reader is instructed to ‘find parents of trans kids near you and tell them where to buy blockers’. Click through on the hyperlink and readers are immediately greeted with an online flyer saying, in vivid capital letters,‘The science is in: puberty blockers save lives’.

One more self-critical statement reads: ‘our current methods are not gaining us any ground except in terms of milquetoast corporate representation […] Direct action gets the goods – no substitutes!’  Given that about only 25 protesters showed up, they had a point.


is UnHerd’s Assistant Editor, Newsroom.

RobLownie