The bus deployed in response to transgender rights efforts, has been billed a ‘bus of shame’.
When a bus covered in anti-transgender messaging rolled into Madrid’s city limits on Monday, it didn’t take long for the city council to spring into action and tell those behind the message to take a hike.
Officially, the bus was banned for being in conflict with the city’s outdoor advertising regulations, but as a practical matter, many had spoken out in protest of the bus, touring Spain as a creation of Hazte Oir, a Catholic organization. The message on the bus seems to serve as a specific rebuttal to a pro-transgender group’s poster that appeared throughout the country. As such, the stunt was referred to as “the bus of shame” by one councilman while another said it was “contrary to the dignity and rights of transsexual children.”
Here’s the original pro-transgender-rights poster:
It reads “There are girls with penises and boys with vulvas. It’s as simple as that.”
The bus’s message reads, "Boys have penises, girls have vulvas. Do not be fooled." The president of the Catholic organization behind the bus claims the message represents only "a fact of biology that is studied in schools.”
Barcelona’s mayor said on Twitter the bus can face similar opposition under the city’s advertising regulations if it rolls into her city.
En Barcelona no hay lugar para autobuses lgtbfóbicos. Queremos q nuestros/as niñas/os crezcan en libertad y sin odio https://t.co/PhWWWF0Wqn— Ada Colau ??? (@Ada Colau ???) 1488302367
The statement reads “In Barcelona there is no place for transphobic buses. We want our children to grow in freedom and without hatred.”
The Catholic group has referred to the bus as “kidnapped” and has publicly considered getting a second bus to complete its nine-city, two-week tour.
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