Crowds support Scottish feminist on trial for ‘hate crime’ over tweets deemed anti-transgender (VIDEO)

Crowds have gathered outside a Glasgow court and have been sharing their views online, demanding that a judge drop charges against a feminist activist who is accused of a hate crime against the transgender community.

On Tuesday, Marion Millar, a Scottish feminist campaigner accused of hate crime, arrived at Glasgow Sheriff Court for her previously delayed trial. Her arrival saw a large crowd of supporters wave flags and chant “Women won't wheesht!” (‘women won’t be silent’). 

Millar, a 50-year-old accountant from Airdrie and member of the For Women Scotland group, has been charged by Scottish authorities over two separate complaints. It is believed the complaints relate to tweets posted in 2019 and 2020 which were deemed to be transphobic and homophobic.

The activist has frequently shared her views on social media. In one tweet showing images of male-appearing trans women, she referred to them as “filthy predators” and said the “cult” should be kept away from schools, according to screenshots online.

Her supporters contend that she is standing up for hard-won women’s rights amid increasing pressure from LGBTQ+ campaigners who label her a ‘terf’ – a “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.”

Millar’s case has drawn widespread attention since she was charged with a hate crime in June, with many contending that the decision of the Scottish prosecutor to press charges against the feminist campaigner is the death knell for free speech. Millar faces two years in jail if convicted.

Those who showed their support in Glasgow on Tuesday were largely supported by online commenters, as Millar’s name trended on Twitter, along with the hashtag “WomenWontWheesht,” a call popularized by the activist.

“I stand with Marion Millar” many wrote, with one calling on other women to “rise up” against her treatment. “We are the granddaughters of the witches you could not burn,” she added, a reference to a ‘witch hunt’ which Millar believes she is the focus of. 

Some claimed the prosecution of Millar was an attempt to “silence women” and was trying to make people afraid to “point out that biology trumps gender beliefs.” One said that they will never give up until “we, and our children, are safe.” 

Others expressed their concern about the future of free speech in Scotland. “If this ludicrous case isn’t immediately dismissed by the judiciary, then women’s protected, sex-based rights in my country will no longer exist,” one Twitter user argued, adding that they will never vote for the Scottish National Party again. 

Another claimed the country was now on a “knife edge,” over the trial, saying that, either an innocent woman will be jailed for standing up for women’s rights, or, “if sense prevails, we at least have hope of fixing this mess.” 

However, support for Millar wasn’t universal. The Empowered Woman Project told people in Glasgow to watch out for the “#WomenWontWheesht mob,” claiming there is lot of anti-transgender signage around. “These women are dangerous and 100% speak for a minority,” they added.

One woman, who identified as cisgender, claimed the “terfs” aren’t actually feminists at all. “None of you bigots speak for me or any other [cisgender] woman I know!” she added. 

The court case comes amid increasing conflict between women’s rights campaigns and factions of the LGBTQ+ community who have been campaigning for greater transgender privileges.

Debate has raged particularly fiery in Scotland, where the government has decided that children as young as four can change their gender and name at school without parental consent. 

Last week, legendary actor and gay rights activist Simon Callow, expressed his concerns about the direction of the well-known LGBTQ+ Stonewall group, claiming an “extraordinarily unproductive militancy” now surrounded its position and suggested the organisation’s aims now impinged on women’s rights. 

When it threatens hard-fought women’s rights and “the right to have exclusive spaces for women, away from any threat at all – I think that’s a very serious issue,” Callow argued.

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