Aussie activist who wants trans athletes banned from female sport pulls out of rally after chilling ‘bullet’ death threat: ‘You will suffer’
Australian women's rights activist Sall Grover has withdrawn from Sunday's "Rally for Women's Rights" after receiving death threats from trans rights activists, citing concerns for her own safety and that of other attendees. Grover, who campaigns for trans athletes to be excluded from female sport and for legal definitions of "woman" to be based on sex, said she was unwilling to put herself or other women at risk when the rally's aim was simply to restore protections she says have been lost. The incident highlights the escalating hostility surrounding the debate over trans inclusion in women's spaces and sport in Australia.
Grover shared messages with radio host Ben Fordham, including one stating "we're going to put a bullet through your f***ing head" and another featuring her photograph captioned "1 terf, 1 bullet". A separate threat referenced a recent NSW Supreme Court ruling ordering fellow activist Kirralie Smith to pay $95,000 to two transgender soccer players found to have been unlawfully vilified. Grover, who has more than 50,000 social media followers, said abuse had intensified in what she called a "post-Charlie Kirk world" and stressed her supporters did not send threats or seek to intimidate opponents. She has also launched legal action against several trans rights groups over a flyer describing her as a "racist transphobe".
- Activist Sall Grover pulls out of rally citing death threats
- Messages included explicit threats to shoot her
- She has also launched legal action over a "transphobe" flyer
New here? Start with this
Sall Grover is an Australian activist who campaigns against trans women competing in female sport and wants "woman" defined by sex in law. She had been due to speak at a "Rally for Women's Rights" this Sunday, one of a series of public events in Australia arguing that protections for women in sport and single-sex spaces have been eroded and should be restored.
The debate over trans inclusion in women's sport and spaces has become increasingly heated in Australia, with both activists and their opponents reporting abuse and threats. It follows a recent NSW Supreme Court case in which fellow campaigner Kirralie Smith was ordered to pay $95,000 to two transgender soccer players after being found to have unlawfully vilified them, a ruling that has itself become a flashpoint in the wider dispute.
Grover, who has a large social media following, has separately taken legal action against trans rights groups over material describing her in terms she disputes. The broader context is a polarised and often hostile public argument in Australia over how far trans people should be included in women's sport and other female-only settings, with strong views and, at times, threats reported from people on more than one side of the debate.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Advocates who share Sall Grover's position argue that sex-based categories in sport and law exist to protect fairness, safety and privacy for women, given that average differences in strength, speed and physiology persist even after transition. They contend that redefining "woman" in law erodes decades of hard-won protections and single-sex spaces that many women rely on. They maintain that peacefully rallying and litigating for sex-based definitions is a lawful form of advocacy, and that attempts to intimidate or silence it through threats or costly legal action represent a troubling effort to shut down a legitimate policy debate.
The case against
Trans rights advocates argue that excluding trans women from female sporting categories and legal recognition denies their lived identity and adds to the marginalisation and discrimination trans people already disproportionately face. They point to existing eligibility frameworks used by sporting and legal bodies as a more measured alternative to blanket exclusion, and argue that campaign rhetoric which brands trans people or their supporters in hostile terms contributes to a climate of fear on all sides. Reasonable advocates within this movement firmly reject threats or intimidation of any kind as having no place in the debate, while continuing to press their case through courts, campaigning and public advocacy.