Political opponents to gather in support of trans candidate facing harassment in Coquitlam

Nicola Spurling (right) waves signs for her political campaign with supporters on Wednesday Oct. 21 (Photo Twitter).

Vancouver — Coquitlam candidates from B.C.’s three major parties are meeting today for a demonstration to stand up to transphobia.

The move comes after one of them, the BC Green Party's Nicola Spurling, who is an openly transgender woman, was approached by an anti-trans demonstrator during an outdoor campaign event on Wednesday.

Spurling took to Twitter on Wednesday evening to say that she was touched by the support of her opponents, Selina Robinson and Will Davis, who would be taking time out of their “busy days” to “show up at my sign waving event” on Thursday.

“It means so much to me,” and “I love this cross-partisan support!” she wrote.

Spurling had been with a group of her supporters waving campaign signs on Wednesday at a busy intersection in her riding, when a man appeared wearing a sandwich-board sign that read "I (heart) JK Rowling," and on the other side, "Gender ideology does not belong in schools."

Spurling posted photos of the man with the sign on social media. She also said that he had expressed his intention to show up again to her campaign event on Thursday.

“The transphobe from today is planning to crash my sign waving event tomorrow as well. Would anyone like to join me and show him that hate is not welcome in Coquitlam-Maillardville or anywhere in BC?,” Spurling said in her tweet.

Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, has been widely accused of transphobia.

Invoking admiration of Rowling has become a way for some to express their dislike of trans people and their rights, which are enshrined in B.C. and Canadian human rights laws.

Spurling says her opponents, Robinson and Davis, are planning to join her in Coquitlam at the intersection of King Edward Street and Lougheed Highway around 4 p.m. today.