Bringing kids to Let Women Speak - too risky?

[Jumpersaurus]

I'll be in London tomorrow with my young kids, one in a stroller, and have been thinking about taking the opportunity to go to Let Women Speak, even just from a distance. Would I be mad bringing my kids with me? DH would be there too so he could take them away from any crowds. I don't know what to expect as I've only seen the scenes from previous events on Twitter.

Well, a baby got called a fascist at the Brighton one.

I wouldn't

You could walk past but keep your distance to assess the situation before getting too close. I think you'd be safe enough just to see what's going on, after all plenty of families will be using the park, but if it doesn't look completely calm I would keep children a good distance away.

did someone really call a baby a facist? I know this is all deadly serious but the idea of a facist baby in a push chair like the baby in boss baby has made me laugh.

sorry, got to find the light side to keep sane.

That's what I'm planning to do, but I suppose I'm worried about being in the general area and even showing an interest in what's going on for fear of becoming a target or my kids seeing anything they shouldn't. I don't know if I'm blowing it all out of proportion by spending too much time on Twitter!
But it's a good point that families will be in the area anyway so we should be fine once we keep our distance.

The very fact that I'm worried for my kids' safety bringing them to a women's talk in public in the middle of the day just shows how deranged this whole situation has become!

If they called my youngest a fascist they probably wouldn't be too far off the mark - we're all scared of him 😆

To be more precise, the dad, who had unintentionally wandered into the protest area with a baby in a carrier was accused of 'bringing up a little fascist' by some unhinged wokester who was caught on camera shouting in the dad and baby's face.

The dad was pretty bemused, not being part of either the protest or counter protest and the baby was unflappable.

It went viral though so a massive own goal for Team TRA

Pointy Labour stalker MP had an employee involved in that baby incident.

Here's the story about the "fascist baby". I saw someone mention that the same woman was involved in the incident where a black Jamaican man was called a Nazi and told of all the 'foreigners' present he was 'the most foreign of all'.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11235021/Trans-activist-called-father-fascist-claims-protecting-friend.html

I wouldn’t expect to be able to hear anything - the TRA thugs are apparently planning to come & make a racket. Then again that’s partly why it’s live-streamed & put on YouTube, so we can listen to the speeches later.

See how it looks from a distance.

Interesting that the fairly energetic demos that I went to as a teen...CND in late 70s, Maggie Maggie Maggie Out Out Out! in early 80s were boisterous, but pretty family/kid friendly.

Too bad today, that so many demos are just a conduit for male hate of women.

Maybe too much for kids, needs a public health warning.

You'll be fine walking near it and assessing the situation. Last week there was only one TRA, and a lot of police, but that might have been because Claire Fox was speaking so they needed to be seen to protect her. But the organisers had had assurances from the Met that the TRAs would be kept well away if they were there.

If they are there, they are so noisy that it might be horrible for a small baby, but you'll be able to tell from a little way away. It's at the Reformer's Tree which is a few minutes from Speaker's Corner.

Apparently a lot of the TRAs were at a different demo last week. I’m going tomorrow & I hope the police will be there.

I wouldn't, just for the levels of aggressive noise.
You know how you take your kids to the panto, and some join in with enthusiasm and others find the noise overwhelming even though its happy and friendly? Go by how they would react to that.

I think many women will take earphones to listen to the live stream live, above the din.

That's what i will do when I go at the end of this month

On a side note, how can I watch live?

This is Kellie-Jay’s channel: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCB7daUkou5C7zJvbBvgU8eA

Thanks!

I’ve been to a few LWS events and personally I’m not ready to take my 7 year old daughter yet. Although I would love to and she would too. If you are in the area anyway, go and suss it out from a distance to see what it’s like. I think there may be trouble tomorrow, as it’s KJK first one back.

Thank you all for the advice. I'm weighing up my desire to go and be counted with keeping my kids safe and comfortable, and think it would be better to stay away. Such a shame; I'm raising a little feminist (of her own making as much as mine) and I would love to let her see women gathering.

I've watched them on KJK's youtube page with my oldest (ds 10), to show him a) what these women are wanting to talk about and why it's important b) the women at Let Women Speak are simply asking to speak peacefully - they are no the ones screaming with spittle flying from their mouths and c) for him to see what the TRAs are like for himself - their disgusting behaviour, their violence, their aggression, and d) to watch as the police do absolutely nothing to stop these people when they get violent and verbally abusive. It's important for him to see this for himself.

(before he gets indoctrinated at school).

I've seen a young girl (11/12) speak at SFW Hyde Park but that was before the loons got emboldened.

I agree with others, scope the area first and keep an eye on social media to see what's happening.

Good luck with the raising a feminist thing I thought I had but dd2 aged 14 still parrots TWAW. Part of the point of growing up is rejecting your parents views maybe?

Gosh I really hope not! I was raised by a feminist and thankfully didn't try to reject her ideals - but I suppose it was easier to be a feminist when it was clearer what that actually meant.
She's a while away from teen years so I really hope this shite will have gone the same way as emo by then and will no longer be cool.

The Hyde Park events used to be lovely. I went to a few - loads of women (and a few male allies), sitting around on the grass, listening to women speak. Really friendly, relaxed and positive.

But that was before the TRA's started turning up. I haven't managed to get to any of the recent ones (hoping to do the end of April) but judging from the videos, the atmosphere has completely changed.

I went to Brighton (which is how London seems to be now) and while it was safe, it wouldn't have been a nice place to take young children to.

I've been on loads of marches in my time (from CND back in the 80s to the teachers' strike last term). All have been very family friendly.

But the current hostility towards women with opinions is crazy. It's like the sort of aggression that the Suffragettes had to face.