A leading women’s rights activist has revealed a prominent personalised stationery supplier has refused to fulfil her order of black notepads with the dictionary definition of a woman on them as they are ‘offensive and not aligned with their values.’
Kellie-Jay Keen, who has campaigned against transgender women using female-only spaces, was told by pens.com that they were ‘unable to proceed with the production of [her] logos’ as they must produce content that ‘aligns with [its] ethical standards.’
The company claimed that they ‘respect creative expression’ however Ms Keen, who also goes by the name of Posie Parker at rallies, said that in essence the company has decided that they find the dictionary definition of the word offensive.
Ms Keen explained that there had been delays with the order she placed in November and had called up the company to ask what the hold up was before receiving the refusal email seen by the MailOnline.
She explained: ‘They said they find the dictionary definition of the word woman offensive.
‘It’s not the first time this has happened to me, I have had some other merchandisers who said they didn’t want to work with me.
‘But, these people are a bit more clever as they have said that they find the dictionary definition of the word woman offensive.
‘I don’t know what they gain from it, you know there’s what is to be gained?’
Miss Keen says she has previously ordered products from the company with similar designs and not had a problem and reasoned that their decision was likely one made without much thought.
She continued: ‘My view is you get one activist working in any of these environments or any plate of work actually and it poisons the complete place as everyone has to be captured.
‘People think there’s always the threat of running and telling someone or exposing people, and everyone’s quite afraid of it, so I think it’s probably gone across the desk of someone who said “Oh, my goodness, she’s a terrible person”, and then they’ve cancelled it.
‘They could have been a bit more clever and just said it over the phone. But they didn’t they? They committed their stupidity to the written word.
‘We really are in a situation where women cannot even say on a bloody notebook that a woman is an adult human female!’
A representative for the company told MailOnline it would investigate what had happened, saying the cancellation of the order may have been made in error.
Kellie-Jay, who also uses the name Posie Parker, had organised a series of rallies across Australia and New Zealand as part of her ‘Let Women Speak’ tour earlier this year, which campaigns against letting transgender women in female-only spaces such as toilets and changing rooms.
Her work has been defended by JK Rowling in the face of fierce criticism by trans campaigners.
Last year, whilst shopping in a Waterstones at Brent Cross Shopping Centre in north London she claims she was told by a ‘seething’ member of staff that she had stood with ‘Nazis’.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Ms Keen claims she was defamed by a member of staff in front of customers.
‘We are now living in a country where you can’t even go shopping for a birthday card without someone calling you a Nazi’, she said.
Describing what happened after she paid for the card, she said: ‘The cashier was seething. He asked: “Can I ask your name” and I said: “Yes it’s Kellie-Jay”.’
Kellie-Jay said the man ‘gave me a filthy look’ and she asked repeatedly why he looked like he ‘hated me’.
She went on: ‘He said: “You and me disagree on things” and later said: “You stand with Nazis”.’
The activist said she lost her temper with him – but did not swear.
She told him: ‘I come in to be served and you think you can tell a shop full of people that I stand with Nazis. You absolutely disgust me’ and she left.
The campaigner said she has been left in shock by what happened. And in a social media post she said: ‘So Waterstones, your member of staff got it wrong and defamed me. Do you want me to sue you?’.
Waterstones said at the time it would investigate what happened.
A spokesman said: ‘We regret the exchange between Kellie-Jay Keen and one of our booksellers which was clearly distressing to both parties. We will investigate the incident with the shop manager and the employee’.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
