Police question second woman in trans row
Two separate forces visit feminist campaigner after ‘hate’ complaint from mother of transgender girl
A second woman has been investigated by police following allegations of transphobic comments. Kellie-jay Keen-minshull, a women’s rights campaigner, was interviewed after being accused of committing a hate crime by Susie Green, who runs a charity helping transgender children. It came after Caroline Farrow, a Catholic commentator, was asked to attend a police interview for allegedly using the wrong pronoun to refer to Ms Green’s transgender daughter.
A SECOND woman was being investigated by police following allegations of transphobic comments made on social media, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Kellie-jay Keen-minshull, a women’s rights campaigner, was interviewed by separate police forces after being accused of committing a hate crime by Susie Green, who runs a charity helping transgender children.
It came after Caroline Farrow, a devout Catholic, was asked to attend an interview by Surrey police for allegedly using the wrong pronoun to refer to Ms Green’s transgender daughter.
Ms Keen-minshull, a mother of four, said investigating people because of legally held views wasted police time.
The 44-year-old was interviewed by West Yorkshire Police last year on suspicion of malicious communication, following a complaint from Ms Green, who runs the Mermaids charity. Two officers travelled to Wiltshire to question her for several hours over six messages she had posted on Twitter.
That case was eventually closed with no further action despite officers undertaking a victim’s review following a request by Ms Green.
Ms Keen-minshull was then subject to a second investigation, this time by the Wiltshire force. She said she had been interviewed following two Youtube clips she posted in which she criticised Ms Green for supporting her daughter’s transition. Jackie Green, 25, became the youngest person in Britain to transition when she changed her sex from male to female when aged 16.
Ms Keen-minshull, of the charity Standing Up For Women, admitted her comments on Youtube were uncompromising but said she was entitled to express them. She said she was waiting to hear if she would be charged.
“I think it is outrageous that police are wasting valuable time investigating people because their views might not be liked. It is Mccarthyist and it is terribly frightening,” she said.
“The police are keen to show they are inclusive by flying rainbow flags and wearing rainbow laces in their boots but what really matters is they are there when somebody is the victim of a homophobic attack. It seems they are struggling to work out their priorities.”
Ms Green has since said she had withdrawn her complaint to Surrey Police about Mrs Farrow and had asked police not to proceed with the allegations against Ms Keen-minshull.
Mrs Farrow, a Catholic commentator, claimed she was being investigated because she had misgendered Ms Green’s daughter. But speaking to the BBC’S Victoria Derbyshire programme, Ms Green said the comments had gone much further: “It’s not just the misgendering, it’s the context that she puts it into, and that she calls me a child abuser.
“She constantly refers to my daughter as a boy… but [it was] the really damaging things that made me decide this was an appropriate course.”
Ms Green said she withdrew her complaint on Tuesday partly because she did not want Mrs Farrow to have a platform on the issue and to stop the “constant referencing of herself as a victim when in actual fact she’s used her platform to deliberately go after myself and my daughter”. Surrey Police said the case could close if Ms Green signs a formal withdrawal.