A poster simply featuring the dictionary definition of “woman” has been removed after a man claimed it could “make transgender people feel unsafe”.
The poster, put up in the city of Liverpool close to the Labour Party conference venue featured only six words taken from the Google dictionary: “Woman, women, noun, adult human female.”
It was up for a week before Adrian Harrop, Twitter activist and NHS doctor, claimed online that the definition amounts to an attack on the transgendered that could endanger them.
He contacted the chief executive and senior directors of the billboard company, Primesight, on Twitter, claiming they were complicit “in the spread of transphobic hate speech”.
The firm responded swiftly, insisting it should not have been put up and promising to have the poster censored.
In a statement issued online, Primesight said: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We were unaware of the motive behind this campaign which was placed through our online automated booking system.
“At first glance, this copy did not raise a red flag the way it should have done. Hands up, we have been misled by this campaign’s messaging.
“Thanks to you, this campaign has been halted and the posters will be removed from our billboards as soon as possible.
“As you pointed out, we are proud to support the LGBT+ community and remain fully committed to equality for all.”
“Thank you Primesight,” Mr Harrop replied. “This is the right decision, and I thank you personally for your rapid response so our concerns [sic].
“You are truly a fantastic ally and supporter of the #LGBTQ+ community, and this will not be forgotten.”
Responding to the furore right-wing Tory MP Nadine Dorries joked on Twitter: “I am a woman. ‘Women, noun, adult human female.’ Come and get me, Twitter activists.”
She added: “A Twitter activist had a poster stating the above removed, citing hate speech as the reason.”
Standing for Women, the feminist group behind the poster, have since released a statement on their website about the incident, writing:
“As you may have read the billboard has been deemed transphobic and is being removed in an act of grotesque misogynistic rage, we are seeking legal advice and will make a full statement in due course.”
Twitter has now suspended the group’s account.
Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, a founder of the group, has criticised Labour for allowing biological men on all-women shortlists. She has previously been questioned by police and allegedly had her travel restricted for criticising the pro-transgender group Mermaids and speaking negatively about transgenderism.
Mermaids, meanwhile, has received thousands in tax-payer money despite being banned from contacting a family, after the mother abused her seven-year-old son by forcing him to live as a girl.
The government is expected to ignore a recent report from Parliament’s Women’s and Equalities committee, aimed at appeasing the transgender lobby, demanding anyone be able to legally be considered a woman simply by saying they are.
If adopted, the policy would mean biological men can enter women’s rape crisis centres and changing rooms, which has worried many feminists and women’s rights campaigners.