Transgender rights protest at Guardian and Observer offices over Burchill row Supporters of transgender rights protest at the Guardian and Observer offices. Video: Phil Maynard Link to video: Supporters of transgender rights protest at the Guardian and Observer offices A peaceful protest took place on Thursday afternoon outside the Guardian Media Group offices in London over Julie Burchill's column in last Sunday's Observer. Organisers of the gathering of more than 100 transgender people and supporters said the column - for which he Observer has apologised and which has been removed from its website - was "transphobic hate speech" and a "deliberate baiting" of a community that is already the subject of widespread social abuse and ridicule. "The Burchill piece was a deliberate baiting," said Martha Dunkley, a member of TransLondon. It was straightforward, transphobic hate speech for which, had she been targeting another group, she would have been arrested. It threw us back into the days when we could be the objects of violence and ridicule with impunity. The protest was the culmination of a row sparked by Suzanne Moore, who wrote in an article that women were, among other things, angry about "not having the ideal body shape - that of a Brazilian transsexual." Moore subsequently became involved in an increasingly heated row on Twitter with members of the transgender community, which concluded in her leaving the social media site. Burchill's column was in defence of Moore, her close friend. The protesters said they are seeking a full apology from the Observer and reassurance that they will take steps to ensure that the Guardian Media Group's publications "will never again be used as a platform for hate speech." "We are aware of the Observer's withdrawal of Burchill's article from their website, but feel that this response does not give adequate reassurance that the paper will not publish transphobic content in future," Sarah Savage, an organiser of the protest, wrote in an open letter to the paper. Furthermore, we do not feel that the paper has adequately acknowledged the role of transphobia in the media in perpetuating and erasing the day-to-day discrimination and violence which we as a community face as a consequence of such attitudes as those expressed in Burchill's article. Instead, the paper has opted for an erasure of the incident without addressing its cause," she added. According to a 2012 study by the Scottish Transgender Alliance, 84% of the 1,054 transgender participants in the survey said they had thought about ending their lives at some point. At least 35% had attempted suicide at least once and 25% had attempted to end their lives more than once. Over 80% said they avoided certain situations, such as clothing shops, clubs and social groups, because of fear of abuse and violence. Almost 40% had experienced sexual harassment, over 37% had experienced physical threats or intimidation and 25% had to move away from family or friends. A Guardian News & Media spokesperson said: "We respect the reasons behind today's peaceful vigil by members and supporters of the trans community. The Observer withdrew Julie Burchill's comment piece earlier this week, acknowledging that on this occasion we got it wrong. The Observer readers' editor will respond to this issue at greater length in due course. We have spoken with representatives from the gathering with a view to continuing this dialogue once we have considered and reflected on the letter they have delivered to us today.