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Social media has erupted over an opinion piece taking aim at Louisa Wall that has been labelled transphobic.

NZ Herald columnist Rachel Stewart is under fire on social media after publishing an article deemed “transphobic” in which she criticised Louisa Wall’s calls to ban Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) from the Pride parade.

It was previously reported that Louisa Wall had told the Auckland Pride Parade hui held on the 18th of November that she “didn’t want any fucking TERFs” participating in next year’s parade.

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Stewart also stated her opposition to the proposed Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill.

The columnist wrote that “under the proposed new law, a man can call himself a woman without ever medically transitioning (most never do) and insert himself in female-only spaces such as changing rooms, women’s refuges, and prisons. Women would have absolutely no legal recourse to challenge such a move.”

“I wouldn’t want to be locked up alone in a cell all night with a hairy, muscly, sex-starved inmate of either gender – but particularly one with his full kit and caboodle intact,” Stewart wrote.

The article has sparked debate online with a polarising reaction from Twitter.

Some have called for Stewart to be sacked from the NZ Herald, while others have defended her and say she raises valid concerns around the bill.

Louisa Wall has written a response in which she said despite Stewart’s protests, the NZ Herald columnist is trans-exclusionary and her stance was “dispiriting.”

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