A group of women critical of gender ideology were physically assaulted in Portland by masked trans activists associated with Antifa, resulting in several women being taken to the hospital. Leaders and members of the US chapter of Women’s Declaration International (WDI), which aims to protect “the sex-based rights of women and girls,” were also threatened with death, called “fascists,” sprayed in the eyes with mace, and had their car tires slashed in the middle of the night.
On November 19, WDI planned an event at the Hollywood branch of the Multnomah County Library, quickly cancelling the plans to due to security concerns. Speaking with Reduxx, WDI USA president and author Kara Dansky explained that the goal of the event was to “have a conversation about the importance of protecting women and children in society” and voice concerns about gender ideology.
“In the days leading up to the event, we were in communication with security about how to ensure the safety of ourselves, library staff and guests. Hours before the event was scheduled to take place, we were informed that county security would be unable to guarantee our safety,” Dansky said.
The WDI members then decided to take their demonstration to the street, and set up on a sidewalk near the library.
“We chose to take our message directly to the public. We stood on a sidewalk, with a banner that read ‘Woman = adult human female.’ Within minutes, a vicious mob of men first started screaming at us that we were fascists, and then approached us,” Dansky said.
The small group of approximately ten women were greatly outnumbered, with Dansky estimating that there were between 30 to 50 trans activists clad in black masks.
“They started throwing things at us, cans filled with liquid that fell and sprayed all over us. Speaking for myself, someone approached me and sprayed something in my face. The impact hurt my eyes physically and whatever they sprayed got all over my face and clothing, but it did not injure me,” Dansky explained.
“Other women were treated much more brutally than I was. Several of the women in our group were sprayed directly in the face with mace, causing immediate and temporary blindness, and excruciating pain. The men punched several of us and pushed them onto the ground and repeatedly kicked them while they were on the ground. Four women had to go to the hospital to be treated for their injuries,” she added.
“It looked like they were targeting those of us specifically who were filming,” said Sam Berg. “They punched me in the face. When I fell down they kicked me in the hip. They immediately went for the camera, and stole my phone as well. It was very scary. Women don’t deserve this. Men have no right to do this. This has to stop.”
Berg was one of three women who had strapped a camera to themselves to record the event’s speakers. Two of the women filming had their GoPro gear stolen, and at least four women had their phones stolen by the trans activists. None of their property has so far been recovered.
One of the women that the trans activists sprayed in the eyes with mace described witnessing the men assaulting an elderly woman who was passing by.
“I saw a yellow-orange liquid and I knew immediately what it was, so I closed my eyes. My right eye got pepper-sprayed, it was burning,” Cass said. “As I was trying to turn away, I felt somebody either push me or punch me in the face. I fell down, my glasses broke. As I was walking away, I saw an unrelated elderly woman in her 70’s walking alongside us. They pushed her or threw something at her and she fell down.”
Another woman who was pepper-sprayed, Linda, said that “only one or two” witnesses to the assault attempted to intervene on their behalf.
“I didn’t realize how blinded I was going to be, in a lot of pain. We turned the corner and they just started attacking everybody. I was next to Lierre, and they blinded her, too, and started hitting her and hitting her,” she said, referring to Lierre Keith, founder of the grassroots women’s advocacy group the Women’s Liberation Front (WOLF).
“These brave women kept standing there calmly, and letting these people attack us. Only one or two passers-by tried to help us at all,” Linda said, incredulous.
“While we were being assaulted, several women called 911 as it was happening. No one in the Portland Police Department responded to these calls reporting active incidents of assault, battery and robbery,” Dansky told Reduxx.
After the women’s rights activists returned to their Air Bnb, they again attempted to contact police and officers were dispatched to their location. A report of the attack and thefts was made, but they were told by officers that the department’s official policy is to “not to get involved” in group conflicts “unless there is an immediate threat to life.”
The safety concern that prompted the decision to abandon the library as a venue was a result of a publicized plan coordinated by trans activists affiliated with the political group Antifa, promoted on social media. The trans activists had been threatening to pelt women with pies and tomato juice – a reference to a volatile mob situation earlier this year in New Zealand that saw women’s rights campaigner Kellie Jay-Keen attacked with the liquid.
“Anti-trans bigots and hate group Women’s Declaration International (WDI) are coming to town this Nov. 19th. Save the date to give them the welcome they deserve,” wrote Antifa propaganda artist “No Bonzo.”
“We arrived… and the woman in charge of security said she could not keep us safe, there were too many of them and they were aiming for violence,” Lierre Keith said in a video clip shared by WDI.
“They told us that they were concerned for the library staff. They couldn’t keep them safe. We didn’t want to put them at risk because they certainly didn’t sign up for this,” Keith said.
“So our decision was to go out on the street near the library and give our speeches, because we have first amendment rights.”
They had also been informed by the Workplace Security Director of Multnomah County that a therapist had filed a report of a death threat from a patient. According to the report, the patient had stated, “I am going to the event and bringing my gun and if anyone messes with me I will use it.” The therapist had a legal obligation to report this information and did so.
Chillingly, the women, who had rented accommodations together, had awoken Sunday morning to discover that their tires had been slashed during the night. They also discovered that flyers with photos referring to some of the more well-known women had been posted in public, calling them “anti-trans bigots.”
“WDI’s Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights calls for the elimination of trans people, trans rights & trans healthcare, specifically targeting trans women most heavily. In this work they have allied with the far right and international fundamentalist groups responsible for the end of Roe V. Wade,” reads one of the posters.
Additionally, Rose City Antifa (RCA), which has posted multiple smear campaigns on WDI to their website, revealed that they had deliberately undertaken efforts to discover where the women would be staying.
“Thanks to the work of multiple anonymous community members who infiltrated the WDI-USA event planning process, RCA has obtained a list of attendees and organizers, which includes both WoLF and WDI-USA members — most notably Lierre Keith, WoLF founding member and board chair, and well-documented transmisogynist bigot,” the RCA’s blog post reads.
“In leaked planning materials for the upcoming Portland event, WDI-USA and WoLF organizers openly admit that the event’s stated focus, ‘protecting women and children,’ was chosen deliberately to mask their anti-trans agenda. In order to maintain this illusion of respectable, sympathetic feminist activism, lead WDI-USA organizers have repeatedly told prospective attendees that they should avoid even using words such as ‘trans’ at the Portland event.”
While attempting to portray WDI president Dansky as “anti-trans”, RCA points to an email exchange between her and a reporter named Brandon Showalter, who holds conservative political views. The email was part of an orchestrated deception by the first individual in the United States to have been legally recognized as ‘non-binary,’ who claims that he pretended to be opposed to gender identity ideology in order to forge connections with politicians. Elisa Rae Shupe, 59, formerly James Clifford Shupe, has written in extensive detail about the sexual fetishes that motivated his “gender identity.”
Yesterday’s violence follows a long string of attacks on women vocalizing criticisms of gender ideology.
Last year, British women’s rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen held a US tour of pro-woman free speech events which were targeted by multiple incidents of Antifa violence and disruption.
Keen’s appearance in Portland, Oregon, had to be cancelled on October 25 after credible death threats were received. Despite Keen’s absence, a small group of women carried out an unofficial demonstration in the event’s place as an act of resistance.
As the women spoke, multiple masked men rushed their area and pelted them with whipped cream pies.
Similarly, on October 26, the event in Tacoma, Washington, was quickly derailed by violent trans activists and Antifa. Multiple physical altercations were recorded, with some trans activists showing up wearing brass knuckles and attempting to grapple female speakers to the ground during their speeches.
At least nine people were arrested in New York City during protests that broke out in opposition to the last stop of Keen’s US tour. Like in Portland, Keen had been unable to attend the event as she was not able to get to the speaking podium safely due to aggressive counter-protestors.
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