Hundreds gather for visit of Kellie-Jay Keen in Brighton

Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as Posie Parker, announced she was visiting Brighton as part of her “Speaker’s Corner tour” across the country.

There was a heavy police presence to keep each side apart in Victoria Gardens, Brighton, this afternoon.

Kellie-Jay Keen has sparked backlash from LGBTQ+ campaigners who criticise her views on transgender rights, saying they are transphobic.

Police separate each side in Victoria Gardens (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

One group were there supporting Ms Keen, while the other group were there to show Ms Keen that “she is not welcome here”.

People held up signs stating “transphobic rhetoric leads to trans violence” and “trans rights are human rights”.

They also said Ms Keen’s supporters are “not feminists” and said “we don’t want Terfs in Brighton”.

Terf stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist which means someone who “excludes the rights of transgender women from their advocacy of women’s rights”.

Both groups in Brighton (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

In a video promoting the event, Ms Keen said that Brighton was “awash with… nasty, pernicious, woman-hating Pride flags everywhere”.

She said: “If we call Brighton the capital of lesbian and gay people in the UK, they have to be the victims of this absolutely vile gay conversion therapy known as transgenderism”.

Campaign group LGB With The T branded the event as a “hate cult gathering” and accused her of “putting down Brighton”.

Another group, called Reclaim Pride Brighton, put out messages on social media asking people to “resist terfs in Brighton”.

One of the people arrested% (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

Their message said “Posie Parker is bringing her transphobic hate tour to Brighton and we must make it clear that she is not welcome here.

“She teams up with violent eliminationists and fascists, in an attempt to rile up hatred for trans people and divide our community. We won’t let this happen.”

Two arrests were made by Sussex Police at Victoria Gardens at around 2.45pm.

One man was arrested on suspicion of assault and one was arrested on suspicion of obstructing a police officer.

Both were taken into custody.