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Spain launches probe into anti-transgender bus campaign

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A man stands in front of a bus belonging to the organisation HazteOir. Photo: EPA

Prosecutors in Madrid on Wednesday launched an “urgent” investigation into a conservative association that chartered a bus displaying a large, anti-transgender message to tour Spain, drawing widespread condemnation.

If you’re born a man, you’re a man, if you’re a woman, you will continue to be so
Slogan on side of the bus

“Boys have penises, girls have vaginas. Don’t let them fool you. If you’re born a man, you’re a man, if you’re a woman, you will continue to be so,” read the slogan on the side of the big, orange bus, which started circulating in Madrid on Monday.

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Chartered by the HazteOir (“Make yourself heard”) association, the red bus was part of the group’s latest campaign against the promotion of gender identity, or the right for a person to feel like and be a man or a woman regardless of their birth sex.

It was bound for other Spanish cities but Madrid authorities made an official complaint over possible “LGBT-phobia,” seizing the vehicle.

Prosecutors in Madrid then launched a probe into the organisation to determine whether the campaign could constitute a “hate crime”, asking a judge to have the vehicle immobilised.

In a statement, they said failing to do so could risk “disturbing the peace and creating a feeling of insecurity or fear among people due to their identity or sexual orientation, and specifically among minors who could be affected by the message”.

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A police officer speaks with protesters from the Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard) organisation during a protest outside the Town Hall in Madrid. Photo: AP
A police officer speaks with protesters from the Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard) organisation during a protest outside the Town Hall in Madrid. Photo: AP

The bus campaign drew widespread criticism.

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