Liverpool’s "Woman" billboard is taken down by ad company after trans activists complain

A billboard with the dictionary definition of "woman"  was put up in Liverpool on Gredington Street in the Dingle area of the city on September 14. However, Doctor and LGBT+ activist Adrian Harrop made a complaint to Primesight, the media owners, about it, and the billboard was subsequently removed.

All it takes is one complaint to stop a billboard campaign dead in its tracks, these days. Why, back in the nude Sophie Dahl era you needed at least two hundred. These days all it takes is throwing a hissyfit on Twitter at the right moment. 

Please find response attached. As an update to the statement, we can now confirm that the posters will be removed this evening. pic.twitter.com/kjZ9qyB7KP

— Primesight Direct (@Direct_PS) September 24, 2018

The response from Primesight to Dr Adrian Harrop and ten other activists on Twitter reads:

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We were unaware of the motive behind this campaign which was placed through our online automated booking system,” it read.

“At first glance, this copy did not raise a red flag the way it should have done. Hands up, we have been misled by this campaign’s messaging.

“Thanks to you, this campaign has been halted and the posters will be removed from our billboards as soon as possible.”

So, a dictionary definition of what the term "woman" means is now deemed transphobic. By a Doctor, no less!

Primesights decision upset another group of people on Twitter, women, who immediately alerted the media company to the fact the issue may be larger than they know - it's not "just a word": 

"You are removing the definition of a woman, which is the legal underpinning without which all female rights dissolve."

This is about the Gender Recognition Act, which the UK government is considering some changes to. The changes being considered, including "sex self-ID", will shatter the meaning of "woman" and "female" in law, and with them women's sex-based rights - including the right to some spaces that are male-free.