Last month I received very serious and graphic death threats prior to attending a women’s rights rally in Sydney.

They were so serious that Sall Grover pulled out of her public appearance.

The police presence in Sydney, and previously in Melbourne and Brisbane was heavy and visible, because it is widely recognised that angry men in dresses who wish they were women can be extremely aggressive and even violent.

Sall Grover recently lost her appeal to have the “what is a woman” case heard by the High Court and the Victorian police seem to have taken that as a sign that they no longer need to protect women in the state who want to meet publicly and advocate for sex based rights in law.

The police have advised they will not attend, and if there are any issues to simply call 000. This is absurd considering the history of such events.

While there is no record of violence perpetrated by the women’s rights group, footage, photographs, police and media reports have documented trans rights counter-protesters committing assaults, attempting to break police lines, throwing projectiles including flares, eggs and water balloons, and clashing with officers who deployed capsicum spray and conducted multiple arrests across rallies in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Ahead of Saturday’s Restore Women’s Rights rally planned for the steps of Victorian parliament at midday, far-left activist group Trans Queer Solidarity is promoting a counter-protest on its Facebook page, urging supporters to wear masks and “don’t talk to cops”, under a rainbow “ACAB” (All Cops are Bastards) banner. The group did not respond to a request for comment.

The planned police absence also follows death threats made by a trans rights activist against women’s rights advocates Sall Grover and Kirralie Smith ahead of a similar rally in Sydney last month.

Restore Women’s Rights rally organiser Louise Carrigg said prospective attendees feared for their safety before Saturday’s event, after police told her they would not enact an exclusion zone to protect her group from counter-protesters and advised her to “call triple-0” if police were required.

“We feel abandoned,” Ms Carrigg said.

“If the counter-protesters weren’t going to turn up, we’d be fine, but they’ve advertised their presence, and they have a years-long history of violence directed towards us, and of causing disruption in the city.

“Many (women’s rights advocates) are reconsidering coming. To be told there will be no police has just destroyed the ability for women to come out and try to be heard.”

How is it that in 2026 women, and men, even have to gather to discuss women’s sex based rights and are threatened with violence for doing so? Where is the tolerance?

It is mind boggling that Australian law denies reality and protects the lie that people can change sex. Worse still is the risk to a person’s safety and life if they want to advocate for truth and reality.

Outspoken former Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who last week became the Victorian leader of the Family First party, said many prospective attendees were “extremely concerned” about the potential for violence on Saturday.

“I’m personally absolutely terrified. But if I don’t go, nobody has a platform to shame the police and government into action,” Mrs Deeming said.

Australia has become a very dangerous place for plain, truth speaking individuals who prefer reality over ideology. No human can change sex. No man can be a woman despite how aggressive or threatening or violent he insists on being.

Victorian citizens deserve more. They should be able to congregate in public without the threat of violence for stating simple, evidence based facts.

(Photo: Tamati Smith, The Australian)