Protester admits throwing tomato juice at Posie Parker
Friday, 7 June 2024
Eli Rubashkyn, who is transgender, poured juice over anti-trans activist Posie Parker in March last year.
The British activist then abandoned her event and left the country.
On Friday, Rubashkyn pleaded guilty and is set to be sentenced in September - but her lawyer told a judge he would be applying for a discharge without conviction.
The activist charged with pouring tomato juice over anti-trans activist Posie Parker has pleaded guilty.
Eli Rubashkyn, who is transgender, poured juice on British activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull – also known as Posie Parker – at a speaking event in Auckland in March last year.
Keen-Minshull abandoned the event following the incident and left the country that evening. She has since said she won’t return to Aotearoa.
Rubashkyn, who has been charged as Eliana Golberstein, previously pleaded not guilty to assaulting Parker and assaulting one of her supporters. She failed to have a charge dismissed by Judge Claire Ryan last year.
On Friday, Rubashkyn appeared at the Auckland District Court via a video link where her lawyer, James Olsen, told Judge Claire Ryan guilty pleas could be entered to the two charges of common assault.
Olsen asked for no convictions to be entered as he would be seeking a discharge without conviction at the sentencing hearing in September.
Judge Ryan remanded Rubashkyn at large until the hearing.
According to the agreed summary of facts released to Stuff, the rally was organised as part of the “Let Women Speak” events and Keen-Minshull was the key speaker.
There was significant opposition to the rally especially from the transgender and rainbow communities, including an unsuccessful judicial review of Keen-Minshull’s visa.
“The opposition to the rally was because of a concern that Ms Keen held anti-transgender views and her intention was to hold rallies espousing those views,” the summary said.
Keen-Minshull arrived in New Zealand on March 25 and the rally proceeded as planned, however there was also a significant counter-rally, largely made up of the rainbow and transgender communities.
Rubashkyn arrived at the rally at about 11am.
Keen-Minshull entered the band rotunda to speak at the event and was greeted by a woman who hugged her.
Rubashkyn was also in the band rotunda and emptied a 1litre bottle of Keri Premium tomato juice on both Keen-Minshull and the other woman, covering their hair and clothing.
Having dumped tomato juice on a woman who would deny her gender recognition, Rubashkyn said her intention was to prevent Keen-Minshull from speaking by covering her in tomato juice.
Rubashkyn was grabbed by Keen-Minshull’s security, pulled away and forcibly removed from the rotunda.
“While this was happening, a person from the crowd threw water from a water bottle at Ms Golberstein [Rubashkyn].”
According to the agreed summary of facts, no injuries were sustained by either Keen-Minshull or the other woman.
Rubaskyn declined to make any comment to police but told 1News immediately after the incident she wanted Keen-Minshull to know “her words are blood because they are killing our people”.
She went on to explain she wanted “New Zealand … to stand up in front of the world and say this is not welcome here, we protect trans people, trans people in New Zealand are safe”.
Rubashkyn said “this is my safe space, my safe haven and I’m not gonna let that be taken away from me because this is my home”.
“I feel safe here, I don’t want hate, I don’t want nothing, I don’t want that here, I want to be happy”.
Rubashkyn, 35, came to New Zealand as a refugee in 2014.
She is a qualified pharmacist and researcher and an advocate for intersex and gender issues at the United Nations.
Rubashkyn was raised as a boy before being given access to hormones as an adult, having gender-affirming surgery in 2022.