On Saturday 11 April various women’s groups around the country got together for a series of events under the One Year On banner, marking the first anniversary of the For Women Scotland Supreme Court ruling. The 2025 ruling essentially established that in law, the word “woman” definitely means biological female.
The One Year On event in Cardiff took place in Central Square, outside Cardiff Central Railway Station. There was, inevitably, a counter-protest. The counter-protestors chanted various slogans through a loud-hailer, including “You can shove your TERF-y ruling up your arse”, “Not all women have a clit” and “All your husbands want to be on HRT”.
A significant chunk of the afternoon was streamed live by someone calling himself “the dyslexic auditor” (DA). His two hour video, filmed on a phone, has been posted to youtube. Around 26m35s into his video, a female figure in a red jacket and very short trousers can be seen walking into the square towards the counter-protestors. By 29m13s she has adopted a casually heroic pose, leaning on a BBC Cymru/Wales piece of street furniture in front of the counter-protestors, keeping a beady eye on the One Year On speakers.
The woman is Dr Sophie Quinney, a self-described “trans ally” and Clinical Director at the Welsh Gender Service. The NHS landing page for WGS says that in the “light of the recent Supreme Court ruling, we want you to know that you are valid, and that our commitment to your dignity and safety is unwavering. This ruling has caused distress”.
Dr Quinney is chummy with the bearded unit in the keffiyeh and dress, at one point giving him a little tippy-toes cuddle.
Shortly afterwards the big lad leads a chant of “I have never seen an educated TERF”. At this point Dr Quinney doesn’t seem to have a problem being publicly associated with the counter-protestors nor what they are shouting through their loud-hailers. She keeps her eye on events happening across the square.
DA wanders off to film some of the One Year On campaigners, then he returns to the counter-protestors. At this point, Dr Quinney clocks him and takes exception to being filmed.
Around 51m22s into the video she waves her finger at the camera and says what sounds like “Don’t film me. You don’t have my permission.”
DA says nothing and continues filming. Quinney approaches a police officer and says “Excuse me, can you ask this man to stop filming me.” Her second sentence is drowned out by the counter-protestors’ loud-hailer.
The police officer says something to DA off-mic. DA can be heard saying. “You’re in public. You’ve got no expectation of privacy in public…. she’s come to a protest.”
The police officer appears to suggest DA films the counter-protest. He replies “I can film her as well. Tell her.”
Quinney is seen starting to move away from the counter-protest to talk to another police officer. DA follows her.
As she moves away again, DA approaches the male police officer and says “Excuse me, boss. Can you explain to her: she’s in public – she’s getting filmed.”
Quinney hears this and moves towards DA saying “I’ve asked you not to though… I have a right to fucking….” The remaining part of her sentence is indistinct as Quinney’s hand moves towards the camera and the audio and vision is temporarily lost.
The phone records the audio of DA saying “I want her arrested. She just come up to me and attacked me, bruv… you seen that, yeah?”
Someone says “Yeah, I saw that”.
DA rights the phone and starts filming Quinney again.
Quinney is seen talking to another police officer. DA follows her. He addresses the officer. “Can you arrest her for assault, please?” he says. “She just knocked my phone out of my hand. That officer has got it on his camera. You’ve just seen it. Arrest her. Arrest her.” Quinney is led away by another counter-protestor.
The police are not interested in arresting Quinney. DA continues to plead his case. “She just knocked my phone out of my hand. I want her arrested before she disappears… no – take your hands off me. He’s got it on his camera. Come here…”
DA moves towards a different police officer. “I want her arrested. She just assaulted me. You’ve got it on your camera. You’ve seen it. I want her arrested. Get her details at least.”
The police officer doesn’t want to approach Quinney. He says “If I go and try and arrest her…”
DA interrupts to say he (now) doesn’t want her arrested, he just wants the police officer to get her details.
The officer replies “If I go and try and get her details I’m going to be dealing with all of that. Right now my concern is keeping peace between two groups. If go and try and take her details I start something. That’s my concern.”
“So she’s just going to get away with it?” asks DA. “She’s going to get away with it. She’s just come up to me, ripped the phone out of my hand and he’s done nothing about it.”
The police officer and DA continue to discuss the best thing to do. The officer asks if he can have DA’s footage. DA agrees.
The bearded unit is seen ambling over to speak to Quinney. They stand in conference for a while. This was the shot One Year On attendee and speaker Helen Staniland posted to twitter:
In Cardiff at the #OneYearLater event. Women are discussing their needs for single sex spaces whilst a man in a dress is shouting 'have you ever seen a TERF with any style' through a loudhailer. The difference in the seriousness of the message is extremely stark. pic.twitter.com/kNx0DcyG3Z
— Helen Staniland (@helenstaniland) April 11, 2026
There is another extraordinary image of Quinney at the protest which is not in DA’s footage. In the photo, Quinney can be seen being restrained by a police officer. It is not clear whether this was before or after the phone incident.
A woman who was present and witnessed the moment above says the police officer pictured holding Dr Quinney’s arm had, a few seconds previously, “wrapped his arms around her. She was carried upright, wriggling like a worm… to the centre of the no-mans land between the two groups. There she stood and appeared to be remonstrating with them for a few minutes before she walked back to her position against the post outside the coffee shop. I didn’t see what had caused the police to take such action.” The witness was also not clear if this happened before or after the phone incident. She has asked to remain anonymous.
Quinney’s presence and behaviour in Central Square on Saturday is interesting. There seems no doubt she is as much an activist as she is a doctor. It’s not clear where one element starts and the other ends. This is important because Quinney holds a responsible position as Clinical Director of the NHS’s Welsh Gender Service. These are the experts who decide whether or not it is appropriate to put young people claiming a trans identity on potentially life-changing hormones. I am already in touch with some professionals and parents who have serious concerns about the way the WGS is run.
Trans activists – such as the counter-protestors on Saturday who were chanting “HRT, HRT, over the counter, and for free” – seem to think anyone who wants cross-sex hormones should get them. Cautious, sensible doctors who are not trans activists may have a different view.
I asked the WGS what Dr Quinney was doing at the protest and whether she supported the people who were shouting abuse the One Year On group. I also asked why she attacked DA and why she was being restrained by a police officer. I also asked if Dr Quinney will be subject to any investigation/disciplinary action.
I received this statement by reply:
“Cardiff and Vale University Health Board takes any concerns relating to the conduct of its staff seriously… Should any concerns be identified and substantiated, they would be considered in line with our established policies and procedures”.
This came with a request from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to supply them with any contextual information. I have referred them to to DA’s publicly available video and the tweet showing Quinney being restrained.
More on Dr Quinney soon.
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